The Key to Dragons
by Golden-Earth-Writer
Summary: All of the sudden, he is sucked into another world, and now is caught in the middle of a war between the Guardians and the Dark Master's forces. Ignitus said that the only hope for this world rest in finding Spyro and Cynder. Could he be one of the keys to to the dragons' victory in the war? (This story is narrated from a 3rd Person - POV. No character pairings aside Spyro/Cynder.)
1. The Teen

**The Key to Dragons Chapter 1**

**Fighting off Strange Creatures in a Speedo**

It started out like every other kind of day you could expect. He drove to his high school swim team practice enduring the harsh workout that was similar to every other day at practice that they had. After the entire team finished its dry-land session, they all put on their practice suits to get ready for the water. The suits they wore all came down to your knees in length and were skin-tight like a speedo.

Grunting, the teen jumped into the pool. Everything proceeded normally for him until about halfway through the workout. Suddenly, everything around him stopped.

"What the hell is happening?"

The boy stared at what was taking place.

"Did time just freeze all around me?" he questioned himself. He heard his own voice very clearly and noticed it sounded exactly as it would have above the water. What shocked him more was that when he inhaled to take another breath he surprisingly didn't take on a lung-full of liquid H2O. Now finally able to move his body, he reached forward with his hand and waved it.

"Okay this is getting very weird!"

Luke made an attempt to get out of his currently stuck condition. He only freaked out as the entire room seemed to literally melt away from all around him.

"What the hell is going on here!" he screamed. The next thing he knew he was knocked out cold and completely unaware of what became of him.

**Meanwhile, in another world...**

"The Wanderers have returned!" a male voice exclaimed loudly. The individual stood outside waiting to see if any of the creatures would appear in the center courtyard of the entire temple.

"Oh damn it. I better get the guardians." He muttered to himself. A few seconds later an entire hoard of the creatures appeared.

He was about to turn and run until something caught his attention. Lying on the ground in the middle of the courtyard was a human teenager. A small groan came from him and he slowly stood himself up.

"Uhh- What the hell?" he moaned.

He looked around and discovered he was no longer in the pool at swim practice. A cold chill crept down his spine. He turned to see the other person at the door. The male turned around and ran inside before Luke had a chance to say anything to him.

He saw several odd creatures that were walking about and causing random destruction to different pieces of décor in the courtyard.

With a good look at their bodies he observed that they all had jewel-shaped eyes, small-nimble bodies, bat wings, and two antennas that extended behind their spherical shaped bodies made him think he were fighting some weird creature you'd see out of a horror movie.

"What are those things?" he asked himself. Never before had he seen anything like that in his entire life.

All of the creatures turned their attention to Luke. He saw the other traits that stood out from the rest of already odd features. On the middle of their foreheads in between their eyes was a black compass symbol with a blue heart shape behind it.

"That symbol. That's a little strange."

Every one of the creatures stopped flapping their wings with the tips of them beginning to glow.

"Umm- what?" Luke asked himself confused.

The bats all opened their mouths and fired a massive blast of fire, ice shards, lightning, and pure energy.

"I'm done for!" he screamed. He closed his eyes ready to embrace of what he expected to be either death or an immediate fatal injury.

He opened his eyes five seconds later to find that, surprisingly, nothing in the fields of pain had been dealt to him. Looking down at his left hand, the realization dawned upon him that he was now holding an object that wasn't there before.

"What the heck is this thing?" he questioned.

"Wisdom Staff… Wisdom Staff… Wisdom Staff…"

Gripping the object and bringing it closer to him he saw it was a 48 inch long blue staff. The hilt of it was circular with two spikes protruding from the top and the bottom. At the top of it the shape of the staff curved into a circle shape with an empty circular hole in the weapon.

"Weird." he mused to himself. For some reason, he felt as if this weapon was very familiar to him.

"I don't know what you can do, but you better be able to get me out of this situation!" he screamed.

Looking at the staff, he assumed an awkward pose that could be the closest to what you could call a battle stance.

**Rush!**

The bats flew at him shooting fireballs, ice shards, electricity, and energy shots from all around.

"Whoa! Damnit! Ow! Stupid! Freaking! Super Powered! Mammalian! Bat! Things!" he exclaimed trying to avoid all of the incoming projectiles.

Glancing back at the bats he saw that one had ventured very close to him. Grasping the weapon with two hands, he took a vertical swing at the bat.

**Wham!**

He sent it soaring backwards into a wall. Without any time for relief, he followed up and swung his staff at another one.

**Smash!**

It was sent flying into a stone wall.

"This is getting ridiculous." He groaned.

Even with this he was barely able to fight back. This was really starting to really make him mad. It was next that he felt an intense rage was beginning to burn inside of him. Pointing his staff at the bats, a huge fireball spewed from his staff as he unintentionally focused all of his thoughts on that one emotion.

The blast impacted a few of the bats and burned them to an ashy heap. Looking down at the staff he wielded in his left hand, he stared in complete shock.

"So maybe this staff is good for more than just violently being used as a blunt object." He mused to himself.

Luke turned his attention to the other bats and smirked with some new found confidence. He then closed his eyes and focused on the enemies.

Hoping to re-create the same spell, he concentrated on his feelings of anger again. Keeping his own attention solely on that, he was able to launch numerous fireballs at the bats. Not only that, he figured out that he could also summon ice shards and lightning bolts.

After ten more minutes of dodging and launching magical spells at his enemies, he finally eliminated out the last one.

"I think that was all of them."

He smirked and was still in disbelief that he had just actually beaten them all.

The staff in Luke's hand suddenly glowed in a white light and then disappeared.

"That was an impressive display." A voice stated commending his performance. Luke smirked at the credit he had received for his fighting skills regardless of the fact that he had never done anything even remotely like this in his entire life until just five minutes ago.

"Thank you good-" he stopped. He stared up quietly at the mystery person seeing that it was in fact a nine-foot tall dragon that stood in front of him.

"If this had been ten minutes ago I would have been surprised but after that little experience I just had I really could expect anything at this point."

"Hello there, my name is Ignitus." He greeted Luke. Luke gawked. He was staring down at the sights of a massive creature at least three times his size and was in full blown shock.

"So who are you?" Ignitus questioned him. His tone grew serious.

Luke shook a little bit feeling completely nervous. After all for all he knew this dragon was indeed an apex predator. Assuming the safety that Ignitus was actually a peaceful being, he proceeded to answer his question.

"I'm a human from planet Earth. I come in peace!" He stuttered in his defense. Ignitus gave him a blank stare.

"I'm sorry." Luke said back. He scratched the back of his head tensely. In the back of the mind he still felt like at any one of those moments he would have been ripped to shreds.

Following behind Ignitus were three other dragons. All of them were about eight to ten feet tall in height.

"Oh my goodness! Today's discovery has yielded very interesting results. This is colossal, monumental, huge, gigantic-" The golden scaled dragon to Ignitus's left stopped as he bit over his tongue.

"A bit of loudmouth like always I see." The teal-scaled dragon on the right of Ignitus stated referring to the golden one.

"Both of you listen to me! Now is not the time or place for your bickering!" a much louder and deeper toned voice commanded. Luke saw that it came from the talleest and burliest green dragon of the quartet.

Shaking, he made a mental not to piss that guy off.

Ignitus nodded in agreement with the other elder.

"Terrador is right. We don't have time to be wasting on bickering. You two should be the ones who are all too familiar with that fact. Ever since this war has been breaking out, we have been dealing a lot more stress than we can handle. Things are starting to spiral out of control."

The two individuals, guilty of their little quarrel, put their heads down in shame and remained silent. Ignitus tilted his head down at Luke.

"So another human has appeared here. This predicament has gotten stranger by the second." The dragon exclaimed. He let out a small sigh.

"He stared at me for a second before running away inside without even offering to help me." Luke explained. He folded his arms and cut a glare at the elder Ignitus.

"I understand that you felt as if he fled because he was a coward, but he did the right thing by coming to alarm us." Ignitus explained. "That aside, you were able to defeat all of those creatures with not much trouble. We owe you a bit of gratitude for that. Thank you."

Cyril snorted. "Well, at least the first human that came here wasn't running around in only a pair of skin tight clothing shorts. Which I might add, for a male of a two-legged species that wears clothing, kind of makes them seem a little on the-"

"Shutup!" Luke shouted back. "It's not my fault the one time I get sucked into another world just so happened to be at the same exact I was wearing a leg-lengthened speedo for swim practice! Which I might add, our entire team practices in!"

"Ignitus, I'm not sure how much we should trust this one. Remember how the first one showed up?" Terrador stated.

Ignitus turned to him. "That one is still being questioned and the circumstances we found him in were very different. I understand your concern."

Luke was confused. "Are you talking about that guy that I saw earlier in the courtyard?" he asked.

Ignitus nodded.

Terrador looked at Ignitus and then to the other guardians. They all made a little bit of small talk before Ignitus turned back to Luke.

"Alright child, listen to me." Ignitus stated. "Follow me inside and we will sort things out from there so we can figure out what to do."

Luke nodded. "Better than standing around here outside, it is so cold right now." He shivered and rubbed his cold, goose-bump covered arms in an attempt to stay warm.

The five walked into the building and down a long corridor. Luke looked around in complete amazement of the place. High ceilings, hand-painted stone floors, and lavishly decorated rooms filled with dragon statues and paintings were among some of the things he saw. At the end of the corridor, or what Luke would refer to as a hallway, they came to a very large circular chamber.

The elders all gathered around a pool of slightly green tinted water in the center of the room. Luke stood next to Ignitus and simply gazed into it.

"What is that?" he asked. He was slightly curious to find out what exactly they were doing.

"This is the pool of visions. It acts a sort of means of seeing the unseen." Ignitus explained.

Luke simply nodded. "So it's kind of a way of seeing premonitions?" He perked up his brow at the fire dragon.

"If that's what you want to call it then yes." Ignitus replied.

"Would you mind me asking you? What happened leading to the events of you ending up here?"

Luke coughed a little bit and then shook his head looking down. Taking a deep breath to calm himself down a little bit, he gazed back up at the group and explained to them everything that had occurred.

"Hmm- This is very interesting. Volteer what do you make of this?" Ignitus questioned.

Volteer smiled at Luke with his eccentric and kindly demeanor. "This is a very unfamiliar development we are seeing here. What I am intrigued about is that all of these events seemed to be happening in a coincidental fashion."

"Now that you think about everything that has taken place, as much as I hate to agree with him I believe Volteer is right." Cyril stated.

"This happened in a coincidental fashion? What do you mean by that?" Luke asked.

"What I am saying is that everything that has happened perfectly set you up to coming here. It is as if somebody made this transpire instead of it being something that randomly occurred by chance."

"I absolutely agree. And for one thing I still don't think that Luke should be trusted. Similarly to the other human here, he might be at work with Malefor. This could all be a setup by for us to gain another ally who is really serving as a double agent. You never know with what's going on these days Ignitus. " Terrador said.

**Grunt.**

Ignitus was becoming annoyed with the Earth Guardian.

"Terrador, I understand your point of view, but I trust this child. I know that we are at war right now with Malefor, but you must never let your paranoia control you to the point of losing your trust in people who are telling the truth. For all we know I could have been a double agent working for him." Ignitus stated.

"If that were the case then I would have found out and killed you a long time ago." Terrador answered back bluntly.

"I would not have expected anything less from your loyal duties as the Guardian of Earth." Cyril commented.

Luke simply rolled his eyes at all the comments. "So what now Ignitus?" he questioned.

"We should decide who you will stay with tonight. Tomorrow morning we will fetch the moles to come size you up for some adequate clothing. You can't run around in public half nude wearing that skin tight pair of cloth around your legs. I do hope you know that." Ignitus answered.

"Yes sir, I understand." Luke replied.

Volteer and Cyril snickered a bit at the remark with them earning a cold frown from Luke.

"Alright now that that's settled, Terrador will show you to his room. That's where you be sleeping during the span of your stay here." Ignitus explained.

Terrador's eye suddenly started to twitch and he was blushing a bit out of anger.

"Wait! Why can't he stay with Cyril, Volteer, or you Ignitus?" Terrador asked.

Ignitus smiled with a bit of a hidden devilish grin. "Because Volteer is watching the other human tonight, Luke can't stay with him. Plus last time I checked you said he could be a double agent for all we know. So if he stays with you, I know that you will definitely keep a strong watch on him."

"Alright, I will watch the boy tonight." Terrador stated. He gave up on the argument.

"Come on Luke!" He ordered. Luke then looked to Ignitus with an expression begging him to let him stay with somebody else. The elder sneered at his plea and walked off bidding them goodnight.

_Later on that night..._

Luke was in Terrador's room sitting on the floor cross-legged. The earth guardian sat in the opposite part of the room facing him.

"How am I supposed to sleep tonight?" Luke. He was pissed that there was no soft surface to lie on such as a bed or even a simple gathering of straw. It was when Luke first entered the room earlier that had the misfortune of discovering that dragons normally slept on the hard floor.

Terrador smiled in pleasure. "Well that's easy. You just curl up on the floor in whatever position you feel comfortable with, close your eyes, and fall asleep."

"I'm not in the mood for a smartass!" Luke bellowed back.

Terrador looked down at him. His eyes had that stern kind of expression beaming from them. From what Luke considered, he found Terrador to be the equivalent in attitude of a military drill sergeant.

"Don't disrespect the one in charge over you especially if that someone happens to be me. I don't tolerate any kind of damn funny business at all!" he growled.

Luke stopped and kept quiet out of fear that Terrador was going to either beat him, torture him, or even the previous two plus killing him. If any of those happened to him, he hoped for only the first one.

"Yes sir. I'm sorry Terrador." He apologized before curling up into a ball on the floor.

Terrador turned back and lay down on the floor to try and get some sleep. Luke tried to do the same only he found himself shivering, his back hurting, his crotch itching due to the wet tight swim-suit, and his entire moral completely crushed.

He was lying there for two hours before the cold from the night fully set in. He started shivering to the point of his teeth chattering. Fed up with it, he stood up in an attempt to try to find something that he could use to either cover up or lay on to keep warm with. He made a few steps towards the door until he suddenly tripped over Terrador's tail.

**Smack!**

His face had a nice date with the rocky and cold floor.

Luke flipped over on his back and he put his hand up to his nose. Even though the room was dimly lit with the fluorescent resembling lights they had scattered throughout the walls on the temple and various rooms, he could tell that there was blood on his hand.

"Ow." he moaned.

The dragon stirred and he opened his eyes. He looked at Luke in a state of shock. "Are you okay Luke?" Terrador asked.

His tone was now gentler and seemed kinder than before.

Luke rolled his eyes and ignored him. "Why the hell would you care? You don't even trust me as far as you can throw me." He barked in a spiteful manner.

The dragon grabbed Luke by the arm and he curled up around Luke's form. Completely trapping Luke with his body, he brought his head down to where it was face to face directly with the teenager's.

For a moment, the two didn't know what to say as things were incredibly awkward between them.

"What do you want from me?!" Luke screamed. He was confused and terrified of a large dragon roughly five times the size of him.

"Are you cold?" Terrador asked. Luke still gave the same horrified expression of fear.

The elder dragon smiled with a now peaceful presence to his character.

"Listen to me, I am a sorry about how I acted towards you earlier Luke. I just had trouble trusting you because I figured that you were an immediate threat to us.

Luke, amazed by the sudden apology and change of tone, smiled slightly at him.

"I'm sorry for how I talked to you." Luke apologized back. "Why don't we start over from the since we didn't get off to such a good start?"

"That would be perfect." Terrador responded. He smiled at Luke, then laid his head down, and closed his eyes slowly falling asleep.

Luke giggled slightly and he then rested his head next to Terrador's. Closing his own eyes, he slowly drifted into the world of his subconscious. For the unknown days that lay ahead of him, he knew that he would need as much rest as possible.


	2. Start of a New Adventure

**The Key to Dragons Chapter 2**

**Setting Sights On Adventure**

The sun shined through the bedroom window and onto the sleeping duo. They were both nestled together with the dragon having his arms around the young boy.

"Ugh- Oh man." He complained.

Luke felt slightly light-headed as his eyes slowly opened for the first time that morning.

"Where am I?" he wondered.

With the events of yesterday still not registered in his thoughts, he freaked out when he realized that what he felt across the surface of his face when he awoke was the smooth scales of a reptile.

"What in the name god!" he screamed.

Terrador was jolted awake by the shriek and he looked around the room to see what was wrong.

"What's wrong?! Did the Wanderers come back already!?" He questioned. He gazed down at Luke who was in the middle of his mental freak-out.

"Oh my god! I've spent the night sleeping with a dragon!?" Luke cried. His face filled with horror until he realized that everything was okay.

"Are you alright?" Terrador asked. The elder's head was directly looking at the human. Luke smiled and the dragon laughed a bit.

"Sorry, I forgot for a moment that I had was no longer in the normal world anymore." He apologized.

Terrador perked his brow. "The normal world? I thought this was the normal world?" he asked.

Luke shook his head. "I mean my version of the normal world."

Terrador, still confused, simply stared at him. "Define normal."

"Umm…" He was struggling to find a way to explain it.

Before he had a chance to answer, the door opened and Ignitus walked into the room. He had an anxious look on his face. The earth dragon and human duo exchanged glances knowing that they had something urgent on their hands.

"Good morning." The fire guardian greeted them. "I see that you two have worked out your differences."

"Well, maybe not all of them." Luke responded with a slight chuckle. Terrador blushed a little bit at the comment and nudged the boy playfully.

"Ignitus, you look like as if something is bothering you. Are you alright?" Terrador asked out of concern.

"There are some urgent matters that we need to discuss immediately." the other elder explained.

Luke stood up and could feel a huge draft blow by him. Instantly he got goose-bumps along his arms and he rubbed them in attempt to warm himself up. Taking notice of his discomfort, Terrador curled his tail around Luke and pulled the boy near his own body.

"Thank you Terrador." He smiled pressed into his warm form.

"I see that you still are stuck in the same 'questionable' outfit that you were in yesterday." Ignitus commented.

"It's only because when I ended up here, I was transported here in nothing but a skin-tight swimsuit. We've been over this Ignitus." He reminded him. Ignitus nodded acknowledging his point.

"I'm already ahead of you on that dear boy. We have a group of moles who will be coming in to take measurements and prepare you a new outfit straightaway." Ignitus explained.

**Knock. Knock. Knock.**

"In fact there they are right now." He stated.

The door opened up and a mole roughly about three to four feet tall entered into the room.

"So where is the young lad?" the mole asked. Ignitus touched him on the right of his shoulder steering him towards Luke's direction.

He approached the teenager and then sniffed him in the face. Luke let out a grunt of discontent and Terrador patted him to ease him up.

"Hmm…" the mole scratched his scraggly chin thinking. "This boy's scent is very unfamiliar. I can't tell if he is a friend or an enemy." He stated.

"Don't worry Mole-Yair, he is an ally of ours. He fought off those horrid Wanderer creatures single-handedly yesterday." Ignitus explained. Mole-Yair was surprised by this and he smiled with joy.

"It was only through sheer luck." Luke added.

"Sheer luck or not, you still did us a great favor yesterday by taking care of those things. Ever since those ravenous creatures have showed up it has been nothing but hell." Mole-Yair exclaimed.

"Well, thank you." Luke smiled.

"No, thank you." the ground mammal replied back. "Now why don't we try to fix you up here with a new set of clothing?"

"Luke, you stay here with Mole-Yair until he finishes up with your clothing. We shall all be outside in the center room awaiting for you when you return."Ignitus explained. Luke and Terrador both stood up.

"I'll see you in a little bit Luke." Terrador said. Luke smiled and nodded back to him. "I'll see you in a little bit Terrador."

And with the two Guardians leaving the room, Mole-Yair proceeded to work with Luke on his new clothing.

"So how will this work?" Luke asked intrigued. The mole laughed a bit and reached into a satchel he brought with him into the room.

"You will find out in a short amount of time." Mole-Yair explained.

After about three hours of intense and painstaking work, Luke's outfit was finally completed. To his surprise, the outfit was very simple in design. The outfit set planned to be consisted of a brown hooded short-sleeved shirt with gray laces following up the center, a red undershirt, long jean resembling brown pants, and a pair of boots that were the size of muddy boots but easy to run in.

"Why don't you try it on?" Mole-Yair said.

Eager to get out of pair of damp swim-shorts that he had been wearing since yesterday, he grabbed the outfit and was about to put it on.

"Hey can you possibly look the other way? I'm kind of one for privacy." Luke asked.

Mole-Yair let out a laugh and he smiled. "Don't worry about me seeing anything, all moles are blind anyways."

Luke stared at him and he felt like punching himself in the face for not realizing that the moment the mole entered the room.

"No wonder you didn't make any remarks on what I am wearing right now." He laughed. He undressed out of his swim-suit and then put on the outfit that was made for him.

He smiled at his new outfit.

The outfit, while it felt like leather, was made out of a light weather-durable material.

"That is sweet." Luke remarked. He was admiring the style of it. Mole-Yair nodded with his own approval.

"While the outfit may not be the fanciest thing available on the market, it is definitely the best kind of one to wear." He explained to Luke. The teen nodded and grinned. "Now, the guardians wait for you in the pool of visions room."

Luke nodded and exited Terrador's room proceeding down the hallway. He entered the center circular chamber of the temple to find all four of the guardians standing around the room discussing important matters.

"There still have not been any clues to finding the whereabouts Spyro and Cynder. This is all seems to hopeless." Volteer stated.

"Spyro and Cynder are not dead!" Ignitus roared back. Luke noticed that the elder was short of his temper right now. Volteer and Cyril only stared in shock back at Ignitus for the sudden scolding.

"Ignitus, calm down please. Taking out your anger on your friends will not help anything." Terrador said.

He turned and noticed Luke had entered the room. "Ahh. Luke. I'm glad you could join us."

"Mole-Yair said that you guys needed me for something?" He asked

Terrador gazed back at the others while Cyril and Volteer remained quiet.

"You will find out in a second Luke." Terrador answered. The impatient teenager simply grunted and folded his arms.

The earth elder ignored Luke's complaint about having to wait.

"When will Hunter be here?" he asked.

"He shall be here momentarily. Now before he arrives, we better inform Luke of the situation of what's happening." Ignitus explained.

Luke looked up at him. "Yes, I'd like an explanation as to what is happening here. I want to know the whole story and not just the baseline details." He demanded.

The guardians nodded and all looked at Ignitus.

"Alright, I will tell you everything. Now where should I begin?" Ignitus pondered scratching the scruff on the bottom-end part of his muzzle.

"Why not begin with the explanation of the basic principles and how this world works?" Volteer suggested.

Luke looked up at him. "I don't care where you begin so long as you tell me everything."

Ignitus nodded.

"Here in our world of we have several different species of animals that have co-existed in harmony. Dragons have always been a revered species because of our amazing ability to control the elements. The four main elements that dragons have today are Fire, Ice, Electricity, and Earth with most dragons only having the ability to be able to use the one of these elements. There are other elements such as Wind and Water, but we have not seen any dragons that have been able to wield those elements for several generations. We guardians here are the masters of the elements and are the leaders of the city of Warfang.

There is a legend of a very rare purple dragon born into this world once every ten generations that has the amazing capabilities of mastering all four elements in their own lifetime. The current war we are fighting is against a purple dragon named Malefor. We have been fighting him for the last two and half years with him forcing us out of our original temple and slaughtering millions of innocent lives."

Luke stared at Ignitus blankly. He was a bit overwhelmed with everything he had been told.

"So judging by the colors of your red scales I assume you are the master of fire Ignitus?" Luke questioned.

Ignitus nodded back.

"Yes and Terrador is the master of Earth, Cyril is the master of Ice, and Volteer is the master of Lightning." He finished.

Luke whistled.

"I have to admit it. I am thoroughly impressed by all this." He commented.

"There is nothing impressive about this war we are currently fighting. Speaking of which, I see that Hunter has now arrived." Ignitus said.

A figure in a brown cloak with a hooded cover his face entered the room behind the fire guardian. Upon looking at him closer, Luke saw the person roughly stood about four inches over his height of five-feet and eight-inches.

"Hello there Ignitus." The mystery person greeted Ignitus. He threw back his hood revealing that he was a cheetah.

"I see that you have encountered another human. Is this one a suspect like the first one was?" Hunter asked. He gazed at Luke and was surprised to encounter another one.

"No he is not. Well he is not at least anymore. Whenever he first appeared here we suspected him to be a double-agent until he proved his innocence last night." Ignitus explained.

"Ahh. I see. And might I ask what your name is?" Hunter asked Luke. Luke walked forward and extended outward his right hand.

"My name is Luke Todd. It is nice to meet you." He introduced himself.

Hunter returned the gesture politely. "My name is Hunter. It is nice to meet you too."

"Ignitus, I have come to inform you that I have found a few clues to assist in the location of Spyro and Cynder. I have discovered a cave located not too far from my village. I believe it is where they are currently are."

"Finally, that is the best news I have been told all day." Ignitus sighed in relief.

Luke looked at Ignitus confused.

"Spyro and Cynder?" he asked.

Ignitus nodded. "Spyro and Cynder are two dragons that went missing three years ago just before the return of The Dark Master. We have been searching for them. They are the only ones that could hold any chances of being able to defeat Malefor."

"Defeat Malefor? How come they are the only ones who would have a chance?" Luke asked.

"It is because Spyro is a purple dragon like The Dark Master." Ignitus answered.

"That is why it is so important that we find him. If we don't soon, all hope as we know it will become lost." Hunter stated with a dark undertone following his voice.

"Thank you for coming with us for the information. Now before you leave, is there anything you need before you head off?" Ignitus asked.

Hunter looked up at him and politely declined his offer.

"I shall be departing for my village soon after I pick up my sword that I had specially ordered. And with that note, I must be leaving. It was nice meeting you Luke."

He politely said his goodbyes and proceeded to walk outside to the leave the temple.

"Wait!" Luke called out to him. All of the guardians gazed down at him.

"I want- I want to come with you." He exclaimed.

"Are you sure Luke?" Terrador asked. Luke looked directly at Terrador with a dead seriousness emanating from his eyes.

"Well if you want to travel with Hunter, you will need a weapon to defend yourself with." Ignitus stated.

Hunter re-entered the room and he stood next to Luke. "I agree with Ignitus. Think about the decision you are about to make. If you travel with me, I can't 100% guarantee your safety in that you will return."

Luke realized that they were right. If he wanted to embark on this journey with Hunter he would need a weapon for self-defense. And as far as he was aware of at the moment, the staff that he used the first time only appeared in that situation before disappearing. Since then, he has not been able to call it out again by his own choice at all.

Another thought crossed his mind and shrugged.

"If I am to find out why I was brought here, my best bet would probably be in seeing I help locate Spyro and Cynder. Maybe when we find them, we will find some clues as to why and how I ended up here. You never know, it's worth a shot." He suggested

"The boy has a point. Maybe the disappearance of those two has a link with the vanishing of Luke from his own world." Volteer agreed with the boy.

The other three guardians couldn't find any reason to argue with him over that. "Well then so be it. I shall see you two soon." Ignitus said.

After saying their goodbyes, the human and cheetah duo headed off into the city to begin their trip. Sooner or later after they finished all of their errands, they finally made it outside the city and on the road to their next destination.

The two were walking down a dirt path which Luke noticed was heading towards the entrance to a cave. He suddenly froze in place refusing to enter.

"Is something wrong?" Hunter asked.

Luke didn't budge or respond. "I'm not stepping a foot into that cave at all!"

Hunter stared at Luke completely unimpressed by his childish fear.

"It is just a cave. And besides you have a sword to defend yourself. It is not like you are helpless." He said.

"I know but…" Luke stopped when he saw the Hunter had already taken off ahead of him and was leaving him behind.

"Wait up!" he ordered following Hunter into the cave.

_A little later…_

Luke was taking in all the sights and marveled at the beauty of cave.

"Diamond caverns, old temple ruins, and magnificent waterfalls. Do you see these things a lot here?" he asked. Hunter was walking ahead.

"This cave is an ancient underground passageway between the Valley of Avalar and the Dragon City of Warfang. It was said to have been built by the moles." He explained.

"Damn. Those moles sure are the engineers." Luke remarked.

The two walked for a ways down the narrow passageway of the caves until they ultimately reached a large and wide open chamber. Looking back towards the opposite side of the room, daylight could be seen through a small opening to the outside of underground cavern.

"There's the exit right there!" Luke cheerfully shouted. He broke out into a full sprint eager to finally be able to see daylight again.

"Wait Luke, this could be a trap!" he warned.

Luke was standing right in front of the exit. Suddenly, an unseen force knocked Luke off of his feet and sent him flying backwards all the way across the room into the opposite side rock wall.

"Luke!" Hunter yelled out. "Damn. That can only mean one thing."

Luke stood up and slowly recovered from the massive impact against the wall.

"Oww." He put his left hand up on his head tried to steady himself still dizzy. Looking forward, he saw that Hunter had pulled out his sword and was currently fighting a group of odd creatures. Shaking his head, his vision fully came to and he saw that these creatures were actually in fact living human-resembling skeletons with shields and swords.

"You have to be kidding, skeleton warriors." He commented.

"Luke! Get up and fight! You have a weapon! Use it to defend yourself!" Hunter exclaimed.

Luke shook his head and understood what he was saying.

Looking around him, he saw that he was completely encircled by the undead creatures. All of them appeared to be blood-hungry and begging for the chance to strike at some living flesh. Terrified, he pulled out his sword and shook. He loosely grasped it in both of his hands.

Hunter dished out sword strikes faster than the Ghouls could handle. Blocking a vertical slice with the blunt end of his blade, he kicked the skeleton in the chest and then took a horizontal swing severing its spinal cord.

Lunging forward, three of the Ghouls charged Luke and he brought his sword up to block the attacks of theirs. He managed to parry the first two blows by a sheer amount of luck only to have his sword sent flying out of his hands and out of his reach.

Hitting the ground, he looked up as the Ghouls closely approached him. They all had their weapons raised to finish Luke off. Hunter fought and noticed that Luke was in dire need of help.

"Luke!" he screamed. He began fearing the worst as he was unable to make it to Luke at the current time.

Luke closed his eyes ready to meet his fate. "So this is how ends." He stated moments before the swords started to come down.

Out of nowhere, a bright flash of light appeared and Luke opened his eyes again to see that he was now standing up. All around him, he noticed that all of the skeletal foes had been completely knocked back several feet.

"What in the name of-" The teenager gazed down at his right hand to see that he was now holding the same staff that he had wielded the first time he was fighting.

"So you finally decided to show up when I need you the most. Good job."

Luke readied his weapon. Taking on a stance, he surprisingly remembered the methods to producing the four spells that he initially learned to perform yesterday. He barely even knew how to use them still.

Closing his eyes, the boy focused his thoughts on his anger and that of fire. Taking his two index fingers, he ran both of them down the staff and lit it into a flame. The staff was now a bright hot red with it burning to the touch. The only part of it that wasn't on fire was the hilt.

**Slash!**

The enemy was sliced down the middle.

"Now that's more like it!" he cheered. He felt like things were beginning to look up. Luke looked to his right to see that four more of the Ghouls had appeared to fight. He

He dodged the attacks of the assailants. Aiming the staff at the enemies a safe distance away from them, he launched several fire projectiles at them. Following up with the flaming onslaught, he charged forward and swung his staff rapidly taking out the few remaining enemies not cooked by his fire spell.

Grasping his weapon by its hilt tightly, he prepared again for combat. Two more undead soldiers made an appearance before him.

He raised his staff into the air. Now more familiar with the workings of his magic, he felt like that this would be an easy cakewalk for him.

"Take this, thunderbolt!" he intoned. A fierce stream of electricity shot up and out into the air from the staff. The voltage stream came crashing back down onto the Ghouls and took out the two undead soldiers.

On the other side of the room, Hunter was battling the left over ghouls. He was backed up and ended up against the stone wall completely cornered.

"Well it looks like I might be in a bit of a situation here." He commented.

The enemies all jumped and attacked at once.

Using his sword's blunted side he parried several of the Ghouls' strikes. Leaping into the air he flipped and brought his sword down severing the enemy into two pieces.

Looking over to Luke, Hunter saw that the he had come out victorious but was on his knees panting and sweating profusely. He rushed to Luke's aid and kneeled down by his side.

"Ow-" Luke muttered under his breath. He had underestimated the extent of his energy that he had used up with the spells he performed.

"Are you alright?" Hunter asked. Luke looked up at him. "I'm fine." He answered. "I'm just very exhausted."

Hunter noticed Luke's staff. "Where did that come from? I never saw you wielding that earlier. In fact when we left you weren't even equipped with a weapon until we went to the blacksmith's shop. Explain yourself." The cheetah sounded nearly demanding.

Luke sighed. "I don't know where this thing came from. In fact it I didn't possess until it magically appeared in my hand five minutes ago when I was disarmed by the undead soldiers. This thing is very strange."

Hunter looked closely at the staff in its whole.

"Hand it to me." He said. Luke nodded and did so. Clutching it in his hand, he was amazed by its otherworldly feel it seemed to emanate when somebody held it.

"This is nothing I have ever seen before." He exclaimed.

"Yes it is." Luke agreed. The staff started to pull itself out of Hunter's hand as if somebody were trying to take it from him.

"What in the name of-" Luke gasped as the mysterious weapon suddenly disappeared in a flash of light out of Hunter's paw.

"Very strange. For a second there it literally felt like the staff was telling me that I was not its master before disappearing. It was as if it has its own kind of will." he remarked.

Luke was dumbfounded.

"A weapon with a will of its own? That is the craziest thing I have ever-" He was cut off as he instantly felt the weight in his left hand increase as the staff reappeared in the grip of it. He stared down at the staff in his hand freaked out.

"Oh my god! It is alive!" he screamed. He threw the Wisdom Staff on the ground away from him out of fear. The object landed about twenty feet away from him before sliding across the ground about five more.

"I bet you five gold pieces that it will- Oh well, never mind." Hunter said. The staff had summoned itself forth back into Luke's hand again after hurling it 25 feet across the room.

"Okay that thing does have a mind of its own." Luke admitted. The cheetah smirked. He was curious to find out what would happen next with that thing.

Suddenly, a small burst of appeared around the staff and it disappeared out of his hand.

"Did you just do that?" Hunter asked.

"I didn't do it by my own choice if that's what you are asking. Hell, I don't even know how to call out by will. The only thing I know how to do is use four basic attacks elemental attacks with it. And after every time I have used magic spells in battle it drains me of my physical energy and makes me tired. I just feel like that I ran five miles nonstop." He explained.

Hunter looked down at Luke and saw that he was too weak to even barely walk very far.

"That is a special object for sure. I'm pretty sure if you work with it, you will unlock some hidden abilities that could assist us along our journey. Who knows what could happen." The cheetah stated sounding optimistic. Luke let out a small chuckle.

Helping up the teen, Hunter put Luke's arm over his own shoulder to help walk the human out of the cave.

The duo exited the cavern into an area filled with lush green forest plants, exotic wildlife, and a winding river that fed out from a massive waterfall. Luke gazed in complete awe at the beauty of the nature.

"Luke, welcome to the Enchanted Forest." Hunter said. Luke still stared at the landscape before him as if he were in some kind of a trance.

"I see why they call it the Enchanted Forest. This place has enchanted me with its beauty."

Hunter nodded. "Let's get moving. It will be dark soon and my father will be expecting us at the Cheetah Village."

Luke looked up at the sky to see that the sun was already starting to set below the horizon.

"Ahh. I'm assuming that's where you were live?" Luke asked. Hunter nodded and didn't say a word more until as they continued on through the forest together.

After about walking for about an hour, the two finally reached the village. When Luke caught sight of the village, he saw that the size of it was roughly pretty small. All of the buildings were small one-story wooden houses with straw roofs. What caught the attention of Luke the most was the ten foot tall fence that surrounded the entire village.

Upon reaching the gates a blue-furred cheetah and orange-furred cheetah were standing guard.

"Ah, Hunter. I see that you have returned from your two week long hunting expedition in the forest. Chief Prowlus has been worried about you." The blue-furred one said.

The other guard grabbed Luke by the armed and pulled him to the side.

"Hey let him go. That kid is fine. He is just a straggler that I found lost in the woods. He was trying to find his way to his home village and I offered to let him stay the night with us here."

The guard bought the story and he reluctantly let Luke go.

"Fine, but you better inform your father, Chief Prowlus, of this." The other guard reminded him.

Luke returned to Hunter and he groaned in annoyance.

"I understand. You two have a safe night. Come on Luke."

Luke nodded and he followed Hunter into the village. Both of them walked down the only single dirt path that was made up the center of the settlement. Coming up to the last and largest house in the village, they were greeted at the door by another cheetah which Luke assumed to be Chief Prowlus. This one, like Hunter had an orange outer body and white inner torso fur color to his body. If there was anything that Luke immediately picked up from this guy when first walked out is that he was not happy at all.

"You bring a complete stranger into our village without even consulting me!?" his voiced roared.

Luke jumped a little at him suddenly yelling.

"Yes I did. And no father this kid is not a stranger. He is now my friend whom was separated and lost from his tribe. We met while I was scouting the land and I have been helping him try to find his family with no luck." Hunter lied. Luke could blatantly notice this, but he didn't know why he was.

"And what if this kid isn't just a double agent working for The Dark Master. We have had plenty of those before. How do you know this isn't just a lying backstabber?" Prowlus demanded. He was giving the human a vicious glare and Luke didn't like it one bit.

"It's because he saved my life. He fought off an entire hoard of Grublins and saved me." He stated.

Prowlus grew quiet. He gave it up because he knew that Hunter was not willing to himself.

"Bahh. You win. Your guest can stay the night so long as he sleeps in your room. I don't want him taking up anymore unneeded space than he already needs to."

Luke remained quiet not wanting to start anything with the old cheetah. He already wasn't liked starting out. It wouldn't help anything if he argued back.

Hunter helped Luke inside and into his room. Letting Luke off onto the bed, he sat on the on a chair in the corner of his room across from his bed. Luke glared up at him demanding answers.

"Why did you lie to your dad like that? Does he not know that you are helping the-" Luke wasn't able to finish his sentence since Hunter set his paw over Luke's mouth keeping him from saying the word dragon out loud.

"Why can't I say that word? In fact better yet tell me what the hell is going on here?" Luke demanded. He was up to the point of almost yelling.

With a sigh, Hunter looked up at him.

"It is because my father and the entire village is against the support of all dragons. They have resented dragons ever since the rise of The Dark Master and his armies of minions. His soldiers come and attack our village on a regular basis. In fact I lost my mother whenever I was just a young child because of them. And ever since then, my father has hated them all. It's just so stupid. He won't listen."

Shocked, Luke said nothing. Annoyed at Hunter's father, he only grew more frustrated knowing that he didn't have any words to help Hunter's predicament.

"I'm sorry." he apologized.

Hunter looked at him. "It's okay." He said back.

"I don't know what to say- I-" Luke stuttered."Damn it that's not right. Saying that you don't know what to say never helps. In fact it makes it it! So stupid. I can't say anything to help- Sorry. I- no- ugh- Shutup Luke you aren't helping."

"I get what you mean. There is no need to say anymore." Hunter cut him off before he got ahead of himself. A slight smile formed across his face. He felt better knowing that his friend cared.

Luke looked at him awkwardly, feeling a bit embarrassed at his own blunder.

"You find me screwing up in an attempt to console you entertaining?" Luke asked. His voice had a hint of sarcasm in it.

The cheetah smirked back at him.

"No, I just love watching idiots make fools of themselves." he said.

Luke shrugged his shoulders and then clapped his hands.

"Not bad." he remarked.

"Now where are we sleeping tonight?" he asked. Hunter pointed to the bed made for one person.

Luke frowned. He was unimpressed. "You are saying we have to share a bed. I have to share a bed with another male? And on top of that a talking cheetah!" he complained.

"Hey, I do take a bit of offense to that. We don't have guest bedrooms. And you heard my father." the cheetah groaned. "If you don't like it we have a lovely stone floor in the den that would be pretty comfortable."

Seeing that he had no other options, Luke decided to settle for the single bed. He felt the material that made up the covers for the straw mattress. The entire bed was covered in a soft and thick sheep hide blanket.

The two prepared themselves for bed and pretty soon they were lying under the covers. Hunter extinguished the lantern that was illuminating the room and everything went nearly pitch black inside his room. The moonlight seeping in from the window was the only source of light left.

"Goodnight Luke." Hunter said to the teenager.

"Goodnight Hunter." Luke replied.

Anxiously awaiting as to what would happen the next day, he closed his eyes and fell into a restless slumber.


	3. Finding Spyro and Cynder

**The Key to Dragons Chapter 3**

**Finding Spyro and Cynder**

Blood was everywhere. It stained the landscape as far the eye could see. He watched everything around him. He saw the Guardians on the ground. All four of their forms were completely unmoving.

"No! He won! The Dark Master won. How can have done this? How could we have lost!" he screamed.

He fell to his knees and punched the ground. They lost and evil won. Looking up at the dark black skies there was a dragon watching him From above. All the details within its silhouette were shrouded in a dark shadow except for a pair of amber eyes that gleamed at him in the perpetual blackness. This in itself was more than enough to send several chills down Luke's spine making his legs shake. His entire body was overcome with a fear that pinned him to where he was standing.

"It's over." He stated.

The ground began to shake and Luke saw ahead the entire landscape beginning to fall apart.

"Behold the rebirth of the planet in my glorious image." The dragon proclaimed. Its voice echoed within itself giving it a demonic undertone.

The rocks beneath Luke crumbled.

"No! No! No!" he cried out loud. His voice echoed across throughout the voids of the canyon.

"Nooo!"

Luke jerked forward. He realized now that it had only been a horrid dream. Hunter was lying down and half-awake from being disturbed. He opened his eyes and gazed at his friend.

Tears were streaming down Luke's face. He was still very shaken by the nightmare he had only moments ago experienced. Normally, he never would have been so shaken by a regular nightmare. But this one felt real to Luke. It felt like it was a vision of the future. That is what scared him so much.

"Hunter!"

Hunter sat up and he put a hand on his shoulder to comfort Luke.

"Come on Luke. What happened?" he questioned. He rubbed his eyes with his other free paw.

"It will not happen. Malefor will not win. We will find Spyro and Cynder." Luke muttered under his breath trembling all over his body. He buried his head Hunter's chest sobbing his eyes out.

Hunter sighed. The sudden display of emotion in front of emotion caught him off guard.

"Things will be okay. Now why don't tell me what is wrong? Why are you crying?" he asked.

Even though he was not able to see the tears, the cheetah was still able to smell the salt off Luke's face. He nodded and he looked up at the cheetah. Hunter pulled him closer and hugged him very tight.

With the moonlight of the night shining in through the window, it was illuminated enough to where Hunter finally saw all of the human's facial details.

"I had a nightmare. In it I saw a dragon shrouded completely in black. The only thing that I could make out was his silhouette and a pair of amber eyes glaring down at me. Everything in it was-"

Luke cried harder the more he continued.

"Shh-" Hunter pressed his finger up against Luke's lips telling him to hush.

"Stop talking. You will only make yourself more upset by talking about this."

Luke nodded and he looked down still whimpering slightly.

"Listen to me. Luke, as your friend I can promise you that as long as you don't lose hope, everything will work out. You have the ancestors looking over you."

The teen slowly smiled a bit and he stopped crying.

"Thank you Hunter."

The cheetah smiled. He sat up with Luke still resting up against his chest.

"We better get a move on it." He stated. Luke jumped.

"Right now?" he asked.

It was the middle of the night and Hunter wanted to leave right now? He wasn't really sure whether he was kidding him or serious. One look at Hunter and he could tell instantly that he was not joking with him.

"Oh alright." Luke groaned.

Then without even a word exchanged between them, Luke and Hunter put on their clothes and gear. After gathering some food and supplies, they queitly slipped out of the house. Heading down the path to the exit of the village, they climbed over the fence in order to avert running the risk of them alerting the guards at the front gate. Outside the village, Hunter lead Luke down a different path than they had come from the first time.

"Hunter! Where are we heading now?" Luke questioned. The forest began to grow thicker the farther they went. On both their left and right, the underbrush was like a solid wall of thorns, vines, and leaves

Luke continued onward barely being to keep up with his companion. Unlike Hunter, he wanted to avoid having his legs cut up by the thick brush.

"Hey Hunter where are we heading?" he questioned.

The cheetah trudged ahead of him. For Hunter, his fur offered him the spare protection of not having to worry about having his legs and arms scratched up by most small-thorned plants.

"Just follow me." he said.

Luke sighed. He resumed onward and made a mental note to watch for any lose underbrush in his way. Slowly, the forest started to let up. After about what felt like an hour to the human, the two came to a clearing with a huge cliff face and large waterfall emptying into the river that fed into the valley.

Looking upwards and at the vertical faced rock Luke was astounded by its size. With another gaze down at the pool at the bottom of the falls, the moonlight reflected a silver illumination off the surface of the water. All of the immediate area around the rapid glowed and if you looked at it closely it would appear as if shining moon on this small piece of water cast a large shadow over the rest of the rest of the forest.

For Luke, the sight amazed him even though back where came that a common thing he had seen all his life. It was just the beauty of the waterfall that captured his imagination.

Hunter tapped Luke on the shoulder and pointed to a small boulder that was lodged up against the rock-face in front of them.

"Help me move that." Hunter motioned to Luke.

Not even stopping with a question for why, Luke followed suit behind Hunter and with their combined efforts they managed to shove the rock out of its spot. They only had to move about a foot forward before it rolled over into the pool of water and sank to the bottom.

Behind the spot where the boulder once rested was an entrance to a underground. The two entered and walked down the pathways moving onwards through the caverns. Slowly, the two progressed the cave and came to a stop when they hit a dead ended wall.

"Have any ideas on where to head next?" Luke questioned Hunter.

The cheetah pointed forward to the wall on the left of Luke.

"There is something peculiar about this. I can't be too sure of it but, I think that this isn't necessarily a 'dead' end as you would put it." he explained.

Scratching the scruff underpart of his chin, Luke pondered what the clue was that they were missing.

"There is some part of the puzzle we are missing here."

Hunter and Luke examined all the features of the cave chamber they were in for about an hour. Checking and reexamining everything numerous times, Luke ultimately decided to give up.

"Hunter, are you sure that there aren't in another cave?" he asked.

He leaned over on the wall and took a breather.

"There is something that we are missing here. Perhaps if we were to backtrack our steps." Hunter suggested.

Starting to find himself annoyed, Luke gave a small glare to his feline friend.

"Yeah, like we will end up finding an ancient abandoned evil lair right below our very feet." The teen protested stomping his food on the ground hard. He was acting like a little kid.

"Luke." Hunter sighed. "You need to have more patience. Now come on. We will go take a break and resume this a later. How does that sound?"

Luke brightened up a bit and let out a slight smirk.

"Nah, it is okay." He answered. "How about we-"

Hunter held his hand up at Luke ordering him to stop his sentence. He pointed at the floor below them. His ear flicked and for a second he could have sworn that he heard some cracking sounds.

"Did you hear that?"

Luke was puzzled. "Hear what? I heard nothing."

Suddenly, the stone beneath them suddenly cracked apart and gave way under the combined weight of both of them.

"That's something!" Luke shouted.

**Bam!**

The duo landed roughly on a pile of stone and rubble about eight feet below them. Rubbing his forehead still in a daze from the fall, Luke let out a sigh of discomfort. Hunter groaned coming to rather easily. He stood up and dusted his outfit off. Luke looked at him surprised as to how he could recover from a fall like that so fast.

"Need a hand?" Hunter offered Luke.

"We just fell eight feet and landed on our asses on a stone pile of rubble and you are already standing back up. Is your rump made of steel?"

Hunter chortled slightly and he held his hand out to Luke.

"Actually, I just have a high pain tolerance. I have had bigger falls than this before." Hunter pulled up his friend to his feet and helped him steady his balance.

"Well I think it is safe to say that we found the secret entrance." He remarked.

Looking around them, they saw that they were in some kind of temple. Something was odd about this place. The entire place was softly illuminated by the moonlight. Everything around them had a slight blue reflection coming off the objects.

"This place feels a bit eerie." Luke commented.

"You are right." Hunter agreed. "This place does have a sort of ominous atmosphere to it."

Scanning the area, something in Luke's peripheral vision caught his attention.

"Hmm. Hunter look at that." Down in front of them, the two of them saw a faint glowing yellow-orange light coming from the room ahead. The two of them turned to each other. For some vague reason, Luke and Hunter both had a feeling in their gut that they were about to find what they had searching for. Then without even a word spoken, they advanced onward to investigate the mysterious light source.

Coming around the corner, what both of them saw next blew their minds. Sitting on top of a mound of rocks only a few feet of them was one massive amber colored 'stone' (Well what you probably could call it.) But the part that made things weirder was that sealed inside of the stone was two dragons and what Hunter presumed to be a dragonfly.

Both of the dragons were in an upright position with their eyes clothes and wings outstretched.

"Is that Spyro?" Luke asked.

He was amazed. The stone resembled a perfectly fossilized tomb engulfing the trio.

Hunter was just as in awe at the sight as Luke was.

"Now I understand why we had so much trouble finding them in these past three years. These three had not gone into hiding, or perished, they simply were frozen in time inside that stone." He explained.

Luke looked back at him then back to the purple dragon carrier stone.

"How are we supposed to free them?" Luke asked.

Hunter shrugged. That was the one current thing that he had no idea how to do. A devilish grin appeared over Luke's face.

"I say we smash it." He suggested.

Hunter sent Luke at glare. "That's the last thing we want to do to that. Maybe if- I don't know. We will think of something."

The youth sighed and then held his head down towards the floor a bit disappointed. A silence ensued between the pair. Hunter was busy contemplating ideas about how to free the trapped trio of two dragons and one dragonfly.

"Luke." Hunter whispered at his companion. "Hide quickly." Luke jumped behind a pillar on the very right edge of the room. Hunter hid opposite side of the room as Luke. They remained careful not to make a sound.

A group of bipedal creatures, which Luke had no idea what they were, entered the room carrying torches and maces. Two of them carried a large rectangular wooden box while the biggest one carried a gigantic mace and a shield that Luke assumed was made out of wood. All of them had green skinned bodies with a kind of armor that appeared to be made out of the grass and other plant life. The creatures, which Hunter refered to as Grublins, grunted and snorted to each other several times before continuing to the crystal that had Spyro and Cynder sealed inside. All of the creatures stopped as the lead one, as what Luke guessed, snorted to issue the order. Acknowledging its leader, it picked up its mace preparing to shatter the gemstone.

With everything that was happening at that moment, this sent Luke into a quiet panic attack. Hunter, standing on the other side of the room, put his hand over his mouth as a reminder to Luke to remain inaudible. Taking a deep breath, Luke let out a small silent sigh and continued to endure the mental torture that was upon him. He didn't know why he was getting so worked up over it. Aside the fact that he feared that shattering the crystal could kill the two dragons he had no other legitimate reason to be so terrified.

The Grublin's mace smashed against the surface of the crystal. Right after its weapon made contact, the entire room began to light up intensely with the same orange light that the crystal was radiating in small amounts moments ago. Luke jumped a bit. He swore that he had just heard a voice echoing throughout the cavern.

"Spyro stop!" The voice sounded feminine and what Hunter expected to be Cynder's.

"I can't…" A male toned voice said.

The light around the room coming from the crystal intensified more.

"Get close to me!" the same male's voice sounded again.

The brightness of the light had become blinding at this point. It was so bright that Luke and Hunter had to use their hoods to shroud themselves from the light.

"This is too much." Luke muttered to himself.

When the bright light finally died down, Luke and Hunter saw that the dragon pair had been freed from the seal and that the crystal was shattered into several pieces that now littered the room.

"Shackle them." The lead Grublin barked.

The two underlings that had been carrying the chest walked forth and set it on the ground. Opening it, inside were two green snakes that sat on a red-velvet cushion. It was as if the two reptiles were pieces of jewelry. Picking up the snakes, they hissed but, strangely enough, didn't have any objections to being handled as the soldier held both of them in its hands.

"Dang-" Luke commented. "I never would have been able to mess a creature like that. Surely even these lowly minions would have the senses to tell them that those snakes are able to bite."

The snake itself wrapped around Spyro's neck and glowed a green light. It solidified into a solid metal restraint. From what could be made of this, these appeared to be some sort of neck-cuffs. Picking up the two dragons, the Grublins towed them away down the hallway they had come.

Lingering behind the creatures, Luke and Hunter looked at each other in shock.

A realization then hit Luke. "I told you to smash it earlier. But did you listen to me?"

Annoyed at his friend, Hunter only groaned in annoyance. "Shutup." he said back in reply.

Looking up at the smashed crystal again, Hunter saw a remaining small form on the ground. Walking up to it and picking it up, a yellow dragonfly rested in his hands.

"That must be Spyro's friend Sparx." Hunter said.

Luke gazed over at Hunter.

"Hey Hunter, we better go rescue our two dragons. I mean last time I checked those bad guys sorta of kidnapped them." he pointed out.

Hunter looked over at him.

"Oh I am sorry, I was helping the unconscious third friend who was left over here." He said.

Luke felt like smacking himself in the face for being so stupid.

"How come I forgot the dragonfly?" He questioned himself.

Hunter shrugged. He did not really taking the time to answer.

"Let's go." he said gently setting Sparx in high coat pocket.

He made a mental note to remain careful as to not injure the dragonfly. Luke broke into a full out sprint after the creatures. He wanted to make sure that they didn't lose them. In all of it, he failed to realize that the path ahead of him only had one narrow distinct trail with no other turns that could lead off of it.

"Luke! Wait!" Hunter called out to him.

The cheetah was still behind in the original chamber not realizing his friend had run off until he was gone. Luke kept running for about five minutes at full speed before he stopped. So far he had been heading down a single hallway that emptied out into a large rectangular chamber. He looked around for a door.

"Where is it?" He wondered.

Ahead of him he saw a large opened stone door. With a confirmation that there were no other doors in the room, he ran at it.

**Crash!**

Luke recoiled backwards and hit the ground on his butt. He rubbed his forehead where he connected with the solid surface.

"What in the name of-"

He looked forward seeing that the place where the 'surface' was supposed to be. Upon closer inspection he saw that the 'surface' wasn't even anything but thin air. He reached ahead with his hand feelings that there was indeed a solid wall in front of him.

"An invisible forcefield. Glorious." He commented.

"Something that you have not seen before in your life have you Luke?" a voice stated.

Luke instantly froze. The source of the voice had come from directly behind him. Turning around slowly, the teen saw who it was that had spoken to him. What was strange about the voice was that when Luke thought about it for a second, he realized that the mystery voice sounded almost like an exact carbon copy of his own when he was younger.

"Hello-" The teen awkwardly greeted the mystery person.

Opposite from him on the other side of the room in front of the door was a humanoid shaped individual floating in midair with his arms and legs crossed. He had on a full body suit of armor with a full visored helmet that had the same compass shape that the creatures from Luke's first battle had. The only minor difference was that the heart behind the compass shape was a blue color as opposed to the black color from before. To make matters even stranger, this being's size was that of a small human child.

"Who are you?" Luke asked.

He gulped a bit. Unlike most people that'd he met, this person was levitating in midair. Not something you expect to see even when you wake in another world full of creatures you once perceived to be a myth.

"Who am I?" The armored being reinstated Luke's question in a mocking manner.

This received a glare from Luke instantly.

"Oh. You want to act so tough. Well then bring it on. You have got guts about fighting against a high-class Wanderer without even a weapon. Where is that magic staff you used in your two previous fights?"

The figure smirked and Luke flinched. Not only had he been completely caught off guard with this situation, but the other person somehow knew about the magic skills that he had. How was this possible?

"Did you watch my fights earlier? Is that how you know about my magic?"

Again, the figure only laughed back at him.

"If only you knew." The figure stated.

"Knew what!?" Luke demanded back.

He didn't care that he was unarmed. Whether or not the masked being was lying or telling the truth Luke couldn't be completely sure of at this point.

"In due time you will know. Although I will give you a bit of information about me just so you can put a name to my face. My name is Vice."

Luke looked at him. "What are you guys planning?"

"All will play out as it does. And when the proper time, place, and circumstances are met in the future you will know. Now following that statement, it appears it is time for me to leave. See you down the road."

Immediately after finishing his sentence, Vice vanished completely into thin air leaving Luke in a complete silence. He didn't know could be said. What would come for them? The teen only wished he knew. But what about that mysterious person who called himself Vice? Luke was left in the midst of total confusion.

"Luke." A voice called out to him shaking him out of his thoughts. It was Hunter. He had finally caught up to Luke.

Turning to face his friend, Luke gave a false smile back at him. Hunter folded his arms a bit. It was easy to tell by the look on his face that he was mad.

"Don't take off like that again! You could have very well given us both away and completely compromised our mission here." Hunter scowled at Luke.

The teen looked down in shame.

"Sorry." He apologized.

Hunter sighed and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"It is alright. Just don't do it again. I don't want to lose you."

Looking up at the cheetah, Luke smiled.

"Is it because, I am such an important ally in this mission that without me that your chances of saving Spyro and Cynder would be hopeless." He said with a smirk wedged across his face.

"No I wouldn't say it really like that. Honestly in my opinion I could have done very well on my own without your help." Hunter teased back.

The human laughed a bit at the comment.

"Well then if I am of no help to you, then how come you still bother wasting your time with me?" Luke questioned him.

He brought up a good point. If what Hunter said was the truth, then how come the cheetah still even bothers with the boy? Rubbing the back of his head nervously, Hunter sweated a little bit not knowing really what to say.

After a couple of seconds of Luke waiting impatiently, Hunter smiled at him.

"It is because I want to help my friends who need it. For everybody else's sake of me finding Spyro and Cynder in hopes of stopping the war, it probably would have been a smarter choice if you had stayed back in Warfang. Back there you at least you had a better chance of being guaranteed safety. On top of that I would not be sidetracked having to worry about you while I searched for the two dragons."

He paused while Luke started to become flustered. It was clear Luke believed he was right.

"But, I also have a feeling that maybe this was meant to be for you to help me find them. You seek answers to your arrival here. And maybe, this leg of our journey will turn up some clues to solving this puzzling mystery about you. Who knows?" Hunter stated.

A smile dawned upon Luke's face as he had newfound reason to continue forward. Hunter was right after all in both points. It would have been safer and possibly smarter for him to stay back in Warfang. But at the same time he wouldn't be solving any unanswered questions he might have now would he?

"Come on. Let's move on." Hunter said to him.

Luke nodded. With himself now having the confidence to continue onward and all doubts behind them, the two pressed forward down the cavern to go rescue Spyro and Cynder.


	4. The Chronicler

**Sorry for such a delay between posting chapters. I have had the ending of this chapter just waiting to be finished for about two weeks now. Although due to school, procrastination, and grades I have been kind of pushing this back and just not working on it. But I guess better later than never. Please don't hate me. I plan on getting Chapter Five faster this time. Enjoy this continuing chapter as we finally enter the adventure of Spyro and Cynder. ENJOY! And if you haven't done so, please leave a review telling me what you think. Feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you.**

**The Key to Dragons Chapter 4**

**The Chronicler's Meeting**

"Spyro! Get up!" Cynder called out to him with desparateness in her voice.

Frantically rolling to the side, she narrowly avoided the rock golem's fist. She leaped onto the purple dragon's chest, bouncing him out of his sleep trance.

"What the heck!"

He jumped onto all fours, put on the high alert. The dragon made a quick eye-scan of the area to immediately get a visual picture of what was happening around them. Both of them were standing on a ten feet by fifteen foot sized platform that standing in the middle of a colossal sized open room.

Cheering could be heard as several Grublins of all sizes were also standing on smaller sized platforms all across the room.

"What is this all about?" Spyro asked Cynder. Cynder shuttered. Grublins were the least of their worries right now.

"Ummm- I think we should be focusing more on the bigger problem we are facing here."

Spyro looked at her and she pointed her front right claw ahead of them. In front of them, towering fifty feet over them was a massively big rock golem. Its eyes slits, mouth, under chest, and left shoulder had a red-orange tint to it given off by the lava flowing through its body. The rest of its rock coloring was comprised of varying shades of gray that acted as its skin.

"That thing is huge. How are we supposed to beat it?" Spyro asked.

Cynder looked over at Spyro giving a bit of a stupid look.

"What!?" He said back a bit annoyed.

"Isn't the answer obvious? We use our elements and fight." The black dragoness stated.

She was standing ready to engage in combat. The look in her eyes showed that she was not going to back down from a challenge.

The golem struck again with its fist smashing onto the platform. Spyro and Cynder narrowly evaded the attack.

In an attempt to use his ice element to shoot ice shards out of his mouth, he opened his maw and concentrated on his on activating his power.

When five seconds passed and he felt nothing come out, he realized that his ice element wasn't useable.

"Whoa!" Spyro exclaimed.

Leaping to the air to avoid another attack from the massive creature, he tried to use his fire element. Again nothing happened.

"Earth!" he intoned stomping his foot on the ground.

A third time following, nothing happened. This was strange. Three out of four of his elements weren't functioning at all.

"What is going on? Why aren't any of my powers working?" he questioned.

**Wham!**

The golem's fist smashed against the ground again in a failed attempt to crush the purple dragon.

Spyro's wings steadied a bit and he was hovering about seven feet in the air above the rock giant's hand. Even when trying to fly, he found himself having trouble.

Ascending higher, he felt himself suddenly tugged back downwards to the ground by his neck the further he went up. It felt comparable to having a rope tied around his neck and some heavy weight was attached to the rope weighing him down as a shackle.

Spyro landed and he looked back at Cynder. She was having no luck either. Watching closely at the base of her neck, he saw that there was some kind of snake neck less around it. Feeling up his own neck as well, he felt something around that was attached deeply into it.

As the black dragon struggled to break the bond, Spyro saw a thin green streamline of energy flowing from the neck shackle to a center circular flat-stone at the center of their platform.

"Hey look at this." Spyro exclaimed approaching it closely.

He looked at it and Cynder groaned. It had several embedded inscriptions on it and gave off an eerie feel to it.

"This is what's holding us down." She pointed out.

"I see that." Spyro retorted.

The golem standing on the far side of the room was reeling for another attack. Spyro, quickly looking over at the cursed shackler on the two dragon's neck, nudged Cynder. He motioned to her to stand up on the stone shackle of them. Meanwhile, the stone creature was throwing its fist at both of them.

"What are you doing?!" Cynder called out to Spyro.

The purple dragon was standing right in the path of the incoming attack. He had only seconds to move before he would become crushed by the massive fist. It appeared as if he was anticipating this.

"Spyro!" Cynder screamed.

At the very last second, the dragon did a quick roll out of the way of the oncoming attack. The golem's fist crashed against the lock that was holding them down. Instantly both of them were freed with the key that was holding them now destroyed. Looking at each other, Spyro and Cynder saw the shackles were still fixated around their necks.

"You mean they are still stuck on us! Why!?" Spyro grunted in a bit of agitation.

The two of them ran in opposite directions only to be pulled backwards by the same thin stream energy line that had been holding them to the floor. This energy harness bounded them together tightly. The more they tried to separate from one another, the harder the collar pulled on them back to one another.

"Come on, we have to move in unison if this is going to work. Follow my lead." Spyro explained to Cynder.

The dragoness, being stubborn to follow orders from her ex-nemesis, shook her head back at him.

"No you follow my- Whoa!"

She leaped to the side losing her balance from not paying attention to the shaking rectangular platform around her.

"Alright, you lead the way." She said giving up.

The two spread their wings and took into the air above the platform. They both hovered a bit next to each other.

Tucking in their wings, they performed a dive to a lower height to avoid being grabbed by the gargantuan sized hands of the rock creature.

**Roar!**

It was becoming more frustrated realizing it could not even get a hand on its two small and nimble targets. They were simply too fast for it to catch. It laid its hand on the center platform of the room. Seeing this as an open opportunity for an attack, Spyro and Cynder dove downwards body slamming into the hand of the golem. Recoiling backwards off the golem's injured limb, the two dragons saw that they cracked the hand down the very center of it.

It screeched in pain and curled its hand into a fist.

"Uh-oh." Spyro mumbled to himself.

The gigantic creature retreated to the other end of the room as it was preparing for another swing. Luckily enough, the golem never was able to initiate the attack because of an arrow that was fired from the right side of the room into its eye.

Flailing about in pain, a black smoke started flowing out of its eye comparable to that of blood coming out of an open scrape or cut. It bellowed out deafeningly and threw its fist at the wall.

**Bang!**

The golem knocked over a loose stone pillar breaking it over the top of the its head. Recoiling backwards, it lost its balance on falling towards the pit behind it.

"Who shot that arrow?" Spyro asked Cynder.

She shook her head implying that she didn't know.

"Over here!" A voice called out to them.

The two dragons looked around the room trying to find the source of the sound.

"To your right!" A second voice exclaimed.

On the other side of the room Spyro saw two other figures standing across the small chasm between the platform and exit to the room. He didn't recgonize them at all.

Cynder nudged Spyro a bit. Spyro turned to her and she pointed in front of him.

Gazing down in front of him he saw a yellow ball of light that had wings beating off of it.

"Hey Spyro! Man you are alive!" the illuminous ball said sounding excited.

One close look at it and Spyro easily remembered the dragonfly foster brother of his.

"Sparx! It's good to see you too." he replied back sharing in the faithful reunion of his family.

"Hey guys! I know you two are having a bromance moment here, but I think it would be smart if we got on out of here. I mean unless you want to wait for that thing to climb back up and have it come enjoy itself a nice black dragoness main course with a purple dragon side and a manwich for desert." Cynder pointed out.

Aside from her being sarcastic, she had a good point.

"Who are those two over there?" Spyro questioned Sparx looking back at the two cloaked figures standing across the room from them.

"I don't know. I awoke in a strange place. And all the cheetah dude was say 'Shhh- You are making too much noise.' The other guy was dead ringer silent." The dragonfly answered.

"I like him already." Cynder commented before plastering a small smirk across of her face.

Sparx didn't bother to make any kind of remark seeing how he didn't want to risk upsetting Spyro. Spyro had always been one to not like Sparx insulting the dragoness. And on top of that, he already feared that Cynder was going to eat him on a daily basis even though he was well aware of the fact she wouldn't like chomping on Dragonfly.

"Something tells me that these two know where how to get out of this cave. Let's follow them." Spyro stated.

"Yeah let's get going." Cynder remarked.

Looking at each other, they both took off and headed outside the room and down the long corridor exit. Making it to the end of the path they entered into another large open room. The cloaked individuals stood in front of Spyro with the beings' identities still concealed under their hoods. The two pulled back their hoods revealing they were in fact Luke and Hunter.

"Spyro, how are doing? Are you alright?" The cheetah questioned. He was concerned for the purple dragon's well being.

"I am fine. shaken up a bit and feeling weaker without my elements being functional at the moment." Spyro answered.

Hunter sighed a bit in relief.

"I am glad that you are alright. I feared that it may have been too late by the time we found you. My name is Hunter."

"And I am Luke." the human introduced himself.

"Luke and Hunter? You two have been tracking us haven't you?" Cynder asked.

Luke gave a nod back in an answer of yes.

"I see-" she commented.

"Well actually, I have been tracking you two for quite some time now. Luke here now joined me yesterday to help aid in the search for you two. We were both sent here by the Fire Guardian, Ignitus. I have been searching for you for the past three years since." he explained.

Spyro, Luke, Cynder, and Sparx shocked.

"Three years!? Three years!?" Spyro flipped out.

He turned to Luke, and Cynder to make sure they all were hearing him loud and clear. _Three years_ is what they had all heard him say.

"But that's impossible." Spyro muttered still in a state of disbelief.

"I know this news comes as quite a shock, but now is not the place to be accounting for missing time." Hunter exclaimed.

Luke looked ahead of the group to see a that there were multiple square platforms set up across the room in a straight line to that formed a stepping stone like pathway to get across to the other side. Imagine stepping stones with ten to fourteen foot gaps inbetween each one set up across a big open space that descended hundreds or maybe of even thousands of feet below them.

Luke gulped. He was nervous and afraid of having to make this jump. Never once had he attempted a jump over large gaps like that before in his lifetime. Spyro, Sparx, and Cynder weren't going to have any trouble getting across that considering they could fly. Hunter wasnt of worry because of the fact that his feline agility and acrobatic skills would hardly find this a moderate challenge.

"So we have to go across this dangerous gap. Okay, Luke you go first and make sure it is safe. Safer for me that is." Sparx explained.

Luke held his ground firmly refusing to move from his spot.

"I don't even know how the hell I am going to be able to pass this!" he exclaimed.

Hunter looked at him.

The cheetah eyed the path ahead carefully observing the platforms that lay before them. Thinking about what to do, he scanned the area for any kind of items or tools that would be able to assist them in getting Luke across the gaps.

"Damn it. Nothing." He stated flatly. Luke sighed. He was ready to give up.

Hunter placed a hand on his shoulder and patted him on the back to ease him up a bit.

With a sigh, Luke dropped hung his head towards the ground and stopped.

"Leave me behind here." Luke lamented.

Immediately objecting to this, Hunter squeezed Luke's shoulder very hard to the point of where it hurt him.

"Owwww. Hunter that was painful. Watch it." Luke moaned.

The orange feline on the other hand was becoming very frustrated with his friend. When he didn't let go of Luke, Hunter grabbed the human by his other shoulder and faced Luke towards the cheetah's face. Dark-brown now met level eyesight with emerald green as the two were face to face only inches away from one another.

"I am not going to leave you behind! I am not leaving anybody behind in this! I don't want to lose anybody if I don't have too. Got it Luke!" Hunter exclaimed.

Luke didn't respond. He didn't know what to even say. Hunter started to get a bit more unsettled by the lack of an answer. He felt like that Luke hadn't even heard a word he said.

"Got it!?" He yelled directly in Luke's face. His voice was even louder and angrier than before. Luke still didn't answer. He was silent.

Sparx and Cynder only watched as Hunter scolded his friend. Not even the dragonfly had a sacarstic comment to make.

"Enough Hunter! Stop it right now! This is not getting us any further progress on our mission. Now calm down and let's figure something out quickly before the Golem shows up!" Spyro exclaimed.

Hunter, seeing how rough he was, stopped and let his grip go off Luke before backing off of him. Luke, who was only shaken up, let out a small breath and looked at Hunter.

"Luke, I'm sorry about my behavior I-"

"No!" Luke interrupted Hunter. "You are right, we need to get moving. We don't have much time."

"But before we head out I-"

"Hey cheetah-man, what part of 'we need to get moving,' don't you understand?" Sparx said with Hunter being interrupted the second time in a row.

Luke grunted a bit at the dragonfly. As much as Sparx was right about the current situation, the teenager was still not really growing to fond of his attitude. Overall, he found him plain off annoying.

"But what about Luke getting over the platforms? We still don't have a way to get myself across." Spyro pointed out.

"Yes we do." Hunter replied back.

This sudden announcement shocked the other four.

"What's this idea of yours then Hunter?" Luke folded his arms still a bit doubtful.

"Easy, you can jump but can't jump all the way across the gaps right?" Hunter asked.

"Yes." The boy answered.

"Then that's what you are going to do. You are going to jump. Only instead you will be receiving a bit of a boost from me each time." He informed Luke.

**Roar!**

The sound of a massive beast echoed throughout the underground chasm and surrounding rooms. This time is it was louder than before. It repeated again a second time only even louder. It seemed like as if we're codscendingly intensive in sound level each time.

"Did you hear that?" Hunter asked.

Luke, Spyro, and Cynder all quietly shook their heads yes. Sparx simply crossed his arms.

"Yeah who wouldn't have heard that within the range of two miles. That thing is massive!"'he remarked.

"Shutup Sparx. Your comments are unnecessary to this right now." Luke shot at glare at the floating yellow insect.

Hunter walked to the edge of the platform and turned around facing the group. He knelt down on one leg and clasp both hands down together in be.

"Okay, so when you run and jump, push forward with all of your force in the foot that lands in my paws."

"Okay-" Luke replied,

He stretched his legs out and mentally prepped himself for a rough landing. The boy was about to attempt to leap across a seven foot long gap and hopefully make it across.

"Ready when you are!" Hunter stated.

Taking three deep breaths, it helped Luke to relax himself and contain his focus. He broke into an instant sprint. Swiftly and quickly, he made contact and jumped off his hands being thrown forward into the air. Sailing right over the gap, he made it across only to land and break into a quick roll on the platform.

He stood up and looked back at Hunter.

"He made it?" Sparx asked. Uncovering his eyes and saw that Luke in fact had. "I mean, he made it! Yeah! I knew you could do it!"

Cynder looked at Sparx. "Yeah. Yeah. You had complete faith in him didn't you Sparx?" Cynder mocked him.

"I'm surprised you even know what the word faith means she-demon." Sparx taunted back to the black dragonness.

This earned a respective glare from both Spyro and Cynder. Sparx smiled sheepishly and acted like he did nothing wrong. Deciding that she didn't want to waste anymore of her time, Cynder took off ahead proceeding to the next platform with Spyro right behind her.

"Geez! Can't you guys take a joke. You know I was kidding." He said in his scramble to catch up with them. Spyro and Cynder allowed Luke and Hunter to make it across first since they didn't have the ability to fly. By the time the wingless duo made it across, the dragon pair was two gaps behind them.

"Luke!" Spyro called out to them. "Wait up!"

Luke and Hunter stood there patiently awaiting them to make it.

"Umm- Spyro. Hurry!" Sparx squealed. He darted ahead flying as fast as his wings would carry him. In about three seconds he easily made it through the exit and into the next room.

The two dragons looked at each other confused.

Luke and Hunter, watching everything from their point of view, saw why Sparx instantly fled for his life.

"Spyro! The golem! It's right-" He stopped himself short of finishing the sentence.

"Spyro! Watch out!" Cynder warned.

The golem roared vigorously with its cry being reverberated by the rocks and caves around the room. It stood over the platforms and looked downwards at the entire group.

"We are too late!" Hunter exclaimed.

"Spyro! Cynder!" Luke hollored.

The two dragons stumbled forward a bit as the golem reached with its hand grabbing the support under the flat platform that they were on. Desparate to do something, Hunter swiftly armed his bow readying for a shot. With its other hand, the rock giant swung at Luke and Hunter ready to crush them. Only with milliseconds to react, Luke grabbed Hunter and jumped backwards pulling them narrowly out the way of being crushed to death. The two of them went tumbling backwards and Luke hit the ground on his back with the weight of the cheetah crashing on top of him.

"Oww!" Luke shrieked. He felt massive several sharp pains in his ribs due to the impact Hunter landing on his chest.

Hunter slowly came too and he looked at the blocked doorway. Spyro and Cynder were on the other side with the Golem. This was not good. This was not good at all. He had to do something! But there was nothing he could do.

"Damn it!" He cussed at himself.

**Crash!**

Hunter suddenly lost his balance and he turned around. A large impact had occurred above them. A few seconds later, he heard a couple of voices. Listening in closer with his acute hearing, he one as Spyro's voice. The cheetah breathed a sigh relief knowing that the dragons had made it

"Ugh-"

Luke cringed over having trouble trying to get up. Now he knew what it is like to have two broken ribs. Hearing the teen, Hunter shifted his primary attention to him.

"Luke!? Are you alright?" He went over to Luke and knelt down. "What's wrong? I'm so sorry I almost forgot you!"

Luke doubled over onto his back and he stopped moving his limbs. His eyes peered down towards Hunter.

"A couple of broken ribs I think. That impact of you falling on top of my chest. That was after I pulled us both out of the way of the Golem's hand. And lastly, apology accepted." He answered.

"I guess you could say that I owe you one." Hunter chuckled a bit.

Luke, still heavy with his breath, snorted a bit before laughing.

"What are you kidding, that makes us even. I was simply settling the score."

Hunter laughed a bit. He slowly helped Luke stand up before slinging his arm over his shoulder to walk with him.

"Easy now Luke." Hunter said.

The two of them continued onwards step-by-step down a small stretch of a corridor that opened up into a mostly floorless room except for a small rectangular in the corner of it. Looking over at the center of the floored space, Luke saw a group of bright-green glowing stones sticking out of a mound of dirt. He noticed that gemstones' luster and brightness looked almost exactly identical to that of an emerald.

"Those are some pretty crystals." Luke remarked. He was rather impressed.

"These little things are what dragons use to regain their elemental energy. At least if that is what I remember." Sparx stated. The human gazed to his right seeing that Sparx had rejoined the group.

"So you fled all the over here?" Luke asked with a smug expression on his faces.

Sparx stuck his tongue out at him. "At least my baby-back ribs didn't get chargrilled."

"Why you little!? Ow!" Luke reached out to try and swat the bug but the sudden movement only caused him more pain.

The dragonfly laughed a bit and Hunter held Luke straight ease the pain.

"Well Sparx did ditch his own brother in attempt to save his own life." Cynder stated.

She and her purple dragon companion landed right next to the cheetah and human duo.

"Sparx. I should barbecue you for bailing on us like that." Spyro said coldly. He was glaring at the guilty dragonfly.

"Spyro, forget about that. We need to regain some of our energy." Cynder reminded him.

"You might want to stand back from this. This can get weird." Sparx warned the cheetah.

Hunter looked in awe.

"It is fascinating. How your kind is able to draw energy from these crystals. Dragons are truly remarkable." He stated.

"Yeah, you say that now, until one tries to kill you and your gimpy friend slung over your shoulder. And by one, I mean her." He pointed over to Cynder.

"Hey! I'm not a gimpy!" Luke countered.

"Then why can't you walk right now?" the dragonfly questioned.

"Because he injured himself saving my life. And on the other subject, I am aware of Cynder's harsh past. She has made several mistakes. But as long as Ignitus trusts her, that is good enough for me." Hunter answered.

"I think she's alright. I mean she seems nice." Luke added in.

Cynder looked at the two and she gave them a faint smile. "See, as long as they are willing to give me a second chance." She stated proudly. "Now where were we with regaining our energy?"

Spyro looked at the green crystals ahead of them. He and Cynder both placed their front forepaws forward making contact with the surface of the gemstone. To everyone's surprise, the entire room lit up with an intense blue and white light the moment they made contact with the crystal. Jumping back in surprise, the duo pulled off the gemstones.

"Is this supposed to happen?" Luke asked scratching his head confused.

One look at Spyro and Cynder and he could tell that it wasn't.

"What's going on!?" Spyro demanded.

"I think that these gemstones are busted! Maybe we should go find some other ones." Sparx said covering his eyes.

The intense light that was shining slowly died down to reveal several floating gemstones that were now orbiting around the pile of green crystals in a circle. Looking up at the center of the mound, a large semi-transparent white silhouette of a large dragon was now standing there before them.

The figure shook his head a bit with his teal scales shimmering under the direct luminescence of the crystals. Of all the things that stood out about him, his outfit is what caught Luke's attention the most.

His clothing had the style of that of a person who you could consider of royalty or high importance.

"That's the Chronicler." Spyro gasped.

Without even knowing what that position even was, Hunter and Luke assumed that this dragon was somehow very important by his implied title.

"Spyro, as a rare purple dragon, you can wield many abilities that others can't. Now, it is time to awaken your powers over fire, ice, electricity, and earth. Cynder, while most other dragons can only master a single element, your exposure to the darkness has left you with your unique powers over poison, fear, wind, and shadow."

As the Chronicler mentioned the name of each element, Spyro and Cynder felt the reignited spark of their dormant powers surging through them and rejuvenating their bodies with new energy.

Looking down at the human before him, Luke suddenly felt himself being levitated into the air by the Chronicler.

"What the hell!? Put me down!" Luke screamed a bit confused. Squirming about, he stopped fighting the invisible force that was holding him when he realized it was futile to resist.

"Stephen Luke Todd I presume?" The old dragon asked.

This caught the human completely off guard. The older dragon, whom Luke had never seen before, addressed him by his full formal name.

"How do you know my name?" He questioned.

The Chronicler chuckled a bit.

"I know everything there is to know about the present and past. I know the lives of everyone in this world." He explained.

"Everything!" Luke said even more surprised.

"The moment you stepped foot in this world, a book containing the entire history of your life was written and placed in my library. You see, that is exactly what I do. I chronicle the events of the entire history of the dragon race."

Luke nodded. "You are essentially a bookkeeper of the libriary that is the history of this world?"

The Chronicler nodded confirming his statement.

"But what do you want with me?" Luke questioned him. The teenager could understand the connection and importance of Spyro and Cynder playing. But for himself, he couldn't see the correlation at all. The two dragons had saved the world before. Luke had only been able to use partial elemental abilities for a matter of only two days now. Not to mention he still couldn't use them at will.

"For reasons even beyond my current knowing, you have been brought into this world. As I have seen your life and caught a glimpse of the world you come from, I could not locate any logical reasoning as to why or how you arrived here either. The details recorded in your book between your transition from Earth and into the Dragon Realms have been clouded from the text."

The teenager was speechless. This dragon had seen everything about him and already knew him probably better than he did.

"Do you know if it is possible for me to return home?" Luke questioned.

Fixating his gaze firmly on the youth, the Chronicler let out a hefty sigh and he shook his head.

"I still don't know yet. The mysterious circumstances surrounding this appearance of you is still an unsolved problem even for me." He explained.

Nodding understandingly, Luke decided to believe him.

"Now, are you going to set me down?" He asked still floating in midair.

"Luke, listen to me. You know that all dragons of this realm have powers that manifest as control over the different elemental breaths and abilities of this world. And over your first couple of encounters here you have discovered your mysterious ability to wield different elements similar to that of the purple dragon."

"Uh-huh." Luke agreed shaking his head.

"Upon entering this realm for the first time, you awakened abilities inside of you that have been dormant since your birth."

Flinching backwards slightly, he was shocked at this revelation to him.

"Whoa! I what!?" He stuttered.

"I have special powers?"

Spyro and Cynder stared up at him in surprise. Luke met their gaze and he shrugged.

"Every soul has untapped potential that they can harness in this world. Like you all know how no two people are exactly alike, members of every race have different abilities within them they can use. Humans like yourself haven't ever been aware of it because of the laws of your world restrict you from being able to unleash them." The elder explained.

Luke crossed his arms.

"That's very nice and all, but how come I can't use my powers at will?" he demanded.

"You don't know how to tap into your potential yet because it takes time for your powers to develop. They are in their infant stages, still growing and finding out how to manifest itself so it can be utilized by your will power instead of acting solely on instinctive defense." The chronicler stated.

"Well then that doesn't help me very much. And even if my powers were to have developed that much by now, why does it matter in the role I have to play here? I am not a purple dragon by any means. The hell I wouldn't have survived if it hadn't been for Hunter's assistance so far! What makes you think that I could have a good chance of ever doing this?" Luke cried back in frustration.

The quartet behind the teen was shocked by the drastic change of tone. The chronicler didn't show any sign of surprise as he still retained his calm and neutral presence.

"The role you have to play here isn't even completely clear yet to even me." He replied.

"Completely clear!? What is it that you see happening in the future for me so far?! I hate being left in the dark!" Luke scolded back at him.

Sighing, the Chronicler was showing that he too was starting to lose his patience with the boy.

"I see a path laid out ahead for you that very much mirrors that of the two dragons chosen to defeat the Dark Master. Only you will face a threat that I expect possesses even more power than the fallen dragon master of darkness. This force I presume to be the omen responsible for the appearance of the Wanderers." He stated.

Luke remained silent after hearing what the Chronicler said.

"Dang! So you are saying that this shrimp right here is going to have to face a threat that is even worse than the one Spyro and Cynder have been combatting for years now?! Well it was a pleasure knowing you Luke. I will miss you after we hold your funeral." Sparx commented.

"Shutup Sparx!" Luke and Spyro growled back in almost perfect unison with one another. The dragonfly retreated back quietly. He knew when he had said enough.

"Hey! I got an idea. Why don't Spyro and Cynder trade with me? I can fight the Dark Master while they fight the more dangerous mystery threat that you were explaining to me about."

Chuckling slightly, the Chronicler shook his head.

"If only things worked this way young one." He mused to himself.

Luke sighed.

"Spyro is a purple dragon. And as one, only he can defeat the evil purple threat that is looming. He is the one who is destined to bring balance back to this world. Your role is to face a demon who remains hidden from us all." the Chronicler stated.

"But how will I stand a chance?" Luke asked again.

He got no reply. Suddenly, he started to glow the same teal illuminescence as the Chronicler. Overtaking the given light of the elder dragon, the light grew to the point of blinding intensity. In attempt to escape out the overpowering light, Sparx flew under Hunter's cape.

"Dang man! You are glowing bright enough to light up the entire dragon temple!" The dragonfly commented.

The light disappated and Luke opened his eyes again to see he was standing on the ground. He felt a surge of power begin to coarse through his being. He felt more empowered than he had a few moments ago. All traces of previously felt pain had ceased inside him.

"Amazing! This power is something I've never felt before, but I feel like that it's a power that has always been there." Luke said.

"Hold your hand out in front of you Luke." The Chronicler stated.

Doing as instructed, the teen raised his left hand directly in front of him.

"Now focus inside yourself. Bring out that power that sleeping power by your own command. Make it will to wield."

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. Silence befell Spyro, Cynder, and Hunter as they watched the human teen.

"Come forth!" Luke commanded. He waited as nothing happened.

Sparx smirked and he laughed. "Some big phony you and the Chronicler turned out to be. I mean seriously where is that mystical staff you oh so supposedly can use."

Luke groaned in annoyance.

"I'm not a freaking phony!" Luke bellowed back. In that exact moment of his own anger building up, he saw the familiar light that accommodated the past appearances of said staff. He closed his grip around the light and now grasped a solid object.

"The Wisdom Staff." The Chronicler stated. "That is what this mysterious magical channeler is called."

"Wisdom Staff-" Luke repeated silently.

"This power of yours is now by your full command to wield. You are now fully capable of continuing on with this journey using your magic to assist you whenever you need it. But beware, for there is a price to pay when wielding such powers. If you don't take responsibility for your power and know how to use it properly, there is a chance that you could end up losing more than your own life." The Chronicler explained.

Luke looked up at the older dragon.

"Yes sir." He replied.

The Chronicler disappeared and the teal light illuminating the large empty chamber died down. Looking down at the crystals, Luke could see that they had lost all traces of the green glimmeringness from before. Hunter approached Luke from behind.

"Luke, how are you feeling?" He asked out of concern from his injuries.

Luke gave a small shrug. "I feel fine." He replied.

This shocked Hunter completely.

"But what about before when you hurt. I had to walk you over here remember?"

Luke nodded.

"I know but for some reason I feel better now. In fact I feel even stronger than I ever have been. I don't know how to describe this feeling because it is so unfamiliar." He explained.

The sensation he felt was not something that his body judged as being painful. No. He figured it to be more one of those growing up feelings. Even with his two broken ribs, he could feel almost nothing as if it was like this new inner power increased his body's ability to take in more pain and endure more stress.

"I'll be fine. stop worrying about it. If anything happens I will stop and let you help me." Luke promised.

Hunter sighed. Seeing how they needed all the time they could muster, he knew that they didn't have time to be arguing as much as they already had.

Continuing onwards, the group traversed further through the cave. One thing that Luke noticed was that the further down they went the subterranean passage, the more he swore that he started to hear a waterfall getting closer.

"Hunter, is there a waterfall nearby here?" Cynder asked.

"Yeah, I have been hearing the same thing. I swear there must be one around here." Luke said back to Cynder.

Hunter nodded. "Yes, I predict that this cavern exits out of the side of a waterfall which leads into the forest." He explained.

"How do you figure that?" Sparx asked.

Hunter stopped in front of the group. He pointed to Luke's right. Looking over, Spyro, Cynder, Luke, and Sparx saw a river that ran directly parallel to the path they were following.

"All we need to do is follow the river." Hunter pointed the way forward.

A few hours later after hiking and climbing down the cave pathway, Luke and Hunter made the decision to setup camp at the clearing surrounding the base of the waterfall. The two were both physically and mentally exhausted from their intense day of action.

"Dang! Why do we have to stop here?! Why can't we stop when we aren't in the creepy, dark, and spooky forest setting?" Sparx demanded.

"It's because that we aren't traveling by air Sparx. Hunter also happens to be the one who knows the way to where we are going." Spyro reminded the bothersome Dragonfly.

Even though Sparx knew how right that his foster-brother was, he still refused to let go of his arguement.

"But. But. But." Sparx muttered.

"No but's Sparx." The purple dragon cut him off.

Looking back up at Spyro and seeing how serious the expression was on his face, Sparx decided it would be best to not say another word.

"Hunter and Luke saved our lives today Sparx, if it wasn't for them Cynder and me would have been dead."

"And you would have starved to death in the cave if Hunter had not of picked up and carried you back to us. You would woken up and been lost. You would have been tired and hungry. You would have died a long and terribly painful death." The black dragoness taunted the glowing insect.

Sparx spit out his tongue back at Cynder.

"Spyro. Cynder. Luke. Sparx. I would recommend that you all get some sleep. Tomorrow is a long day and we have a lot of ground to cover." Hunter reminded the quartet.

Luke gazed up at the sky. With the sun set below the horizon, the darkness of the twilight creeped ever more widespread across the forest.

**Chirp. Chirp. Chirp.**

The sounds of rhe night echoed nearby.

Luke helped Hunter collect pieces of wood together to form a small pile.

Using a quick flick of his fire element, Spyro lit aflame the wood to save the hassle of having to use flint or other lighter-pine to get the fire started.

"Thank you Spyro." Hunter said as he took a spot on a log sitting nearby the fire. Luke took a seat next to Hunter.

"So, the Dark Master is back isn't he?" Spyro stated.

"Well that was a sudden negative change of conversation." Luke pointed out.

Hunter remained quiet.

"It was, sorry if it seemed so random. It is just that I want to know what's going on. I mean I woke up after three years and I come to find out the worst is already among us." Spyro rebuked to Luke's statement.

The human jumped and he didn't say anything back.

Out of concern for Spyro, Cynder put a paw next to Spyro's to try and comfort him.

"Easy there Spyro, there are something's in this world you can't control." Cynder said.

"The Dark Master escaped roughly four months after your disappearance. He struck quickly fueled by as some would label as extreme rage. In no time at all he took the throne capital temple. And as means to symbolize his reign of never ending terror, he now suspends the temple in the sky above the land. Now one knows how he managed to do it, but I myself are not surprised. We have been fighting a losing war with him ever since. Every day his forces grow stronger, as ours begin to lose hope."

Spyro looked at the ground shamefully. Guilt beat down on his chest making him feel like this entire war was entirely his own doing.

"This is all my fault." he muttered silently under his breath. "I wasn't there when they needed me most. If I had been there when the Dark Master had returned I we would have been ready! We could have averted this entire war!"

Sparx was worried. "Hey, Spyro- Don't beat yourself man. It's not good for you."

Spyro turned away form him and he curled up into a ball. His wings curled up over his face. All he wanted to do right now was tuck in his wings and shut out the world around him.

"Don't focus on the past Spyro. What has happened in the past has behind you and there is nothing you can do to change it. What matters is that you are alive and you are still here fighting. You made this far." Luke reassured him.

Spyro grunted and did not give a verbal response.

"Ignitus doesn't believe that we are doomed. He still believes that we have a chance. And that belief rests within you. If he didn't think that you have the potential to do this at all, he would have surrendered three years ago." Hunter stated.

Spyro sighed. "What makes you so sure that he still believes in me?" He unfurled his wings looking up at the cheetah.

"You know Ignitus better than any other person here. You tell me." Hunter replied.

He was right. The fire guardian was the one that Spyro had always known on a deeply personal level. He looked up to Ignitus as a father-figure.

"I guess you two are right. I can't give up yet. Not after everything that I have been through. Ignitus is counting on me and put his faith in me. They all put their faith in me. I can't-"

"We can't let them down!" Luke interrupted Spyro.

The dragon looked up at him.

"He is right." Cynder pointed out.

"We are in this together. You aren't alone here Spyro." Hunter reassured him.

Spyro looked at them. He believed them.

"Dark times loom ahead of us. We will be ready to face the challenge when it comes so long as we have faith that we can make it through this." Hunter stated.

"Yeah, but for now- Let's just get some rest." Luke yawned. The exhaustion from the day's travels had signaled to him that it was time for some rest.

He felt the overwhelming coolness of of the night settling in.

"Brrr- I think it's freezing right now." He muttered.

"How will I be able to sleep if I am shivering all night long?"

Hunter approached him from behind and wrapped his right arm around him. The body heat from the feline could be easily felt by Luke considering how cold he was and how much of a thick fur coat Hunter possessed.

Luke smiled and looked up at Hunter in the face. The cheetah sat down and he leaned up against a tree that was not far from the fire. Luke sat down next to him and he leaned his up against Hunter's shoulder.

Spyro and Cynder had already settled in right next for the night. Both of the dragons nestled next to each other with Sparx resting on top of Spyro's head.

"Thanks Hunter." Luke muttered.

Closing his eyes, he surrendered to his exhaustion from the long day of travel that was endured.

Looking over at the youth, Hunter purred a bit as he watched his friend in his sleep. Hunter pulled Luke in closer to his chest by wrapping his own arms around him.

"You are very welcome." Hunter said lightly.

"Goodnight Luke."

Hunter closed his eyes. Like Luke, it wasn't long before Hunter as well succumbed to the spell of sleep.


	5. Family Troubles

**The Key to Dragons Chapter 5**

**Family Matters: Dragon Prejudice**

"Ugh." Luke stirred in his sleep.

Slowly waking up, he felt an unfamiliar pair of arms wrap around his back and pull him into some kind of fur. Looking up, he saw that had Hunter pulled him into his chest and wrapped him in a bear hug to keep him warm. This surprised him, but at the same time he didn't mind it.

By the lack of light shining throughout the forest, Luke could tell it was still nighttime. Gazing back at the fire, he saw that the flames had long since died down to smoldering ashes.

"It is just your mind playing tricks on you." He repeated to himself.

For some reason, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching him.

"Hunter." Luke called to his resting companion.

Hunter, whom was having trouble to waking up, moaned and pulled his arms tighter around Luke. The cheetah was holding Luke as if he were Hunter's teddy bear.

"Five more minutes." Hunter complained. He was still in a half-awake/half-asleep daze.

"Hey, I think we better get up."

Hunter shook his head and fully came to. Realizing how close he and his friend were, he released his hold on Luke.

"Oh Luke. I am so sorry." Hunter blushed from embarassement.

"It's alright." Luke replied.

**Rustle. Rustle. Rustle.**

Hunter's ears twitched as he heard the sound of something moving through the leaves nearby.

"Did you hear that?" Hunter asked. His voice was down to a whisper.

The two met eye contact instantly.

"Y- ye- yes." Luke replied with a shudder in his voice.

Listening closely, the two waited to see if they would hear anything else.

"I think they were spotted over here." A voice stated. The sounds of the crunching of leaves and twigs could be heard coming closer. Luke and Hunter sensed someone or something was heading in their very direction.

"Stay quiet Luke." Hunter whispered.

The sounds of snapped twigs came ever closer to the duo as they heard the echoing footsteps right behind the tree they rested up against. Frantic was the word that described the look on Luke's face.

Hunter remained calm.

"Luke," He whispered, "I want you to listen to me. Listen closely because I'm not going to have time to repeat myself. In a few seconds we will be taken and it is possible we will be imprisoned. I don't want you to fight back. Do you hear me? Just close your eyes, stay quiet, and submit yourself to them."

Luke couldn't believe what he had just heard. Was Hunter out of his mind or was he planning something?

"What!? I know that we are under extreme-" Luke stopped midsentence in his reply to Hunter.

"I found them sir!" One of the voices from nearby proclaimed.

Luke flinched as two pairs of hands immediately seized him from his left. He was not suprised to say the least, but it still set him on high alert. With no ideas as to what he should do, he decided it was best to trust Hunter's instructions.

Luke submitted to his capturerers without struggle. He took a look at the ones who were holding him to see they wore clothing of similar style to Hunter's. They dawned the same leather like capes and tunics, but wore long red hoods that conceiled their faces. Standing about five feet in front of Luke, he could see three more individuals restraining Hunter.

"What do you want from us?" Luke stated with a bold undertone.

The figures remained quiet. Hunter cast Luke a warning glare.

"Blind-fold them and take them into the village." One of them ordered.

Luke and Hunter were tied up and bound with rope and pieces of cloth covering their eyes. As much as Luke wanted to call out his Wisdom Staff and break out of his binds with his new found magic, he trusted Hunter's judgement to surrender.

While now unable to see what was going on, Luke could feel he his hands and legs being bounded to some kind of long pole.

He tasted dirt as his face was buried into the ground.

"Damn." he silently complained. He couldn't move his head much without putting his neck in an upright awkward position.

"Now I know what it feels like to be a captured victim back in the Middle Ages." He thought to himself.

The next thing he felt was that he was being suspended off the ground. How high he couldn't tell. But he knew that they were carrying him. After what felt like hours to Luke, his arms and legs were untied.

"Up!" A voice commanded him. Somebody grabbed him by the shoulder and forced him to his feet. They lead him to god knows where. Hearing a door open, Luke felt himself shoved

forward into what knew was some kind of building and crashed into the floor face first.

He opened his eyes. Darkness. Nothing but pitch-black darkness. He listened around him as he heard some footsteps leading away from him and then a door shutting.

"Goodnight." A voice chuckled.

Luke sighed. Aside from being captured and carried across a long pole for several hours, he was just thankful that he wasn't dead.

"You better be damned sure that you have a plan Hunter. Because I sure don't." He muttered to himself. So far, he still didn't know what to think about Spyro, Cynder, and Sparx. The two dragons luckily hadn't been awake when they had arrived.

"I can only hope that they are all okay. God help them. Spyro, Cynder, Hunter, and yes even you Sparx. Please be okay. They need you more than I do God."

Luke yawned. Exhaustion still plagued him. Closing his eyes, he slowly drifted into a light slumber.

_The next morning..._

"Wake Up!" A voice commanded.

Luke stirred and opened his eyes. It would have been normal for him to want to stand up and stretch out his arms and legs. Although, he was still tied up at the wrists and ankles. He couldn't stand or move much at all.

"By any chance will you guys be removing this blind-fold from my head so I can see?" Luke groaned.

He wasn't in any position to bargain or complain considering the circumstances he faced right now.

"You will have them off soon. Right before you see the last thing you will ever see before your death this afternoon." A dark laugh sounded from the stranger. Luke was shocked.

"And I thought the torture was the first part to come." He sarcastically remarked back. "What, you guys don't have the guts to inhumanely exploit your victims. Pathetic."

Luke heard a light growl come from whoever it was that was standing near him.

**Crack!**

Luke cringed from the hard kick the guard dealt to his ribs.

"You piece of shit!" the guard snarled.

Luke smirked. Unlike the last time he had recieved a blow to the chest, his tolerance and resistance to pain had grown a tremendous amount. The guard forced Luke to his feet.

"Come on!" the cheetah barked at him.

Luke was escorted out of the room being lead somewhere by, from what he could guess, three or more guards. Upon stepping through the door, he felt a small a surge of warmth beat lightly onto his face. It was daytime. From the span of time of falling asleep, then getting captured, and then falling asleep again, he assumed it was mid to early morning.

The group of guards stopped and halted Luke.

"Where should he put him?" One of the guards asked.

"Put him with the others." Another one answered. "Remove the blind-fold. It doesn't matter if he sees what's going on anymore."

One of the men untied the cloth that was covering the teen's eyes and shoved him forward onto the ground.

Lifting his head up out of the head, he gazed ahead of him. Another person sitting a few feet in front of Luke looked up to make eye contact with him.

"Hunter you are alive!" Luke exclaimed.

Hunter remained silent. He didn't share the same joyous feelings that Luke expressed.

"You should have stayed quiet." The cheetah stated.

Luke went silent.

"What happened to the others?" He asked.

Hunter looked up once more.

"They are over there." He answered, motioning his head towards his left side.

Luke looked over to where Hunter pointed. He saw that Spyro and Cynder were about ten feet away from them. Like Hunter and Luke, they too had been captured as well.

Spyro opened his eyes. It took him all but a few seconds until he realized that he was no longer in the same place where he had fallen asleep last night.

"Spyro!" Sparx called out to his brother. Spyro looked around trying tried to decifer where the sound came from.

"Over by the lantern!" Sparx exclaimed.

He had been trapped inside a hook lantern elevated off the ground.

"All of you! Quiet!" A voice echoed across the village.

Sparx meeped and he shutup. Spyro and Cynder groaned. Seven cheetah guards along with a larger elder one approached the group. Upon seeing his face, Luke was able to recgonise the elder.

"Chief Prowlus." Luke muttered. The elder walked passed Luke without even a word and he knelt down looking Hunter in the eyes.

"Dragons. Bah! Do you have such little respect for our ways son? You go behind my back and get involved with the forces responsible for causing all of this misfortune upon our people! The very ones who took away the life of your own mother!" Prowlus scowled at his son. Spyro and Cynder watched in shock at the sight of the father's angry verbal fury descended upon Hunter.

Grabbing Hunter by the very edge of his neck, Prowlus raised his other hand balling it up into a fist.

"You have betrayed your own father!" The last word rang the loudest of them all.

"Father. Please. Heed to my advice. The dragons are not the cause of our past tragedy that befell upon us. That was the work of one evil purple dragon named Malefor and his forces. The most recent purple dragon of legend is the only hope we have left! Spyro is the only option."

Prowlus scoffed a bit and he tightened his grip on Hunter's neck.

"He is right!" Luke countered back at the village elder.

"A purple dragon was the very one responsible for this mess! So what makes you think that adding another purple dragon will automatically balance things out. Allowing for the existance of two purple dragons at the same time is just putting the nail in the coffin for our race. Not to mention, I still haven't forgotten what she has done."

Prowlus pointed to Cynder. Hunter's face flustered and Cynder shot a glare at the cheetah father.

"That is why as chief of the village, it is my responsibility to do what is best for the safety of us all. And even possibly the greater good!" He exclaimed to them all.

"I'm not proud of what I have done! I am different now from what I used to be!" The dragoness stated in her defense.

Prowlus folded his arms across his chest and he remained unconvinced. He was not changing his mind so easily.

"Changed or not, I am still not taking a chance. You, that purple nightmare, and that hairless ape are all dangerous threats." He stated.

"Threat?" Luke questioned. "What kind of threat do I possibly possess. Out of all us here I am the weakest link on our team besides the dragonfly. Unlike dragons and cheetahs I don't have claws, tails, wings, any special powers, or any fur or scales completely covering my body."

Prowlus looked down at Luke, whom was still on the ground tied and restrained.

"Yes. You are right on all of those except for one point. You lie when you say you have no _special_ powers." Prowlus growled. "You and these two dragons pose the threat of wiping out our entire village. And compared to the odds we are facing right now, I would rather have one threat looming instead of four."

Sparx laughed hard.

"Wait are you meaning to say that Luke is a threat!?" he cackled.

Prowlus gazed over at the lantern that Sparx was caged in.

"That magic stick that the boy wields." Prowlus stated.

At the mention of his staff, Luke struggled to hold back the desire to pull out his weapon and break them all free. The look on his face turned into a glare.

"You don't know how much I want to kick your ass right now." He muttered.

The village chief turned back to Luke. He picked up on Luke's comment and let out a low growl.

"You'll be the first one to be-" Prowlus was cut off by the voice of a guard.

"Grublins! In the valley!" A voice sounded across the entire village. Screams could be heard as several female cheetah mothers scrambled to gather their children and bring them inside.

"You know that your troops can't hold them back by themselves. They will need some help." Cynder stated.

Hunter, Luke, and Spyro all nodded in agreement with the dragoness.

"Father please listen! Can't we worry about this later. The village is being attacked." Hunter urged Prowlus.

"We can help! I mean you said yourself remember, we are all dangerous threats. Just let us prove to you that we are the good guys by fighting off these creatures." Luke pleaded. He was becoming desparate following Hunter.

Prowlus gave no response. Seeing that there was no other choice, he sucked up his stubborness and released the five.

"Thank you." Luke said as he stood up rubbing and stretching his muscles.

It took him a second to completely regain his feeling of touch in his arms and legs after being tied up in ropes for eighteen hours.

"Help!" A voice shrieked from nearby.

Two or three grublins fully surrounded and trapped a cheetah female and her young child up against a wall. The mother screamed and held her son against her as they prepared for the worst.

"I got you!" Spyro called out.

The dragon sprinted forward. A bright orange afterglow surrounded his entire body, engulfing him in his fire element. He rammed through the Grublins knocking them all away and catching them on fire.

"What are you doing standing there! I just saved your life. Now is your chance to get to safety!" Spyro had to remind the citizens that he was fighting on their side.

Seizing the chance given to her, the mother wasted no time in seeking shelter.

"Now that's the hero I know! Kicking butt and saving the world like back in the day!" Sparx remarked having watched his foster brother just save the life on two innocent people.

"It's not over yet Sparx! That was only a small handful on enemies. Look!" Luke pointed to the sky.

Looking upwards, a huge hoard of wyvern resemblant creatures were invading the village.

"Oh why me." Sparx complained.

"Don't worry. With the four of us working together as a team they don't stand a chance!" Luke exclaimed.

He stepped forward and scolded his eyes. Like yesterday, he attempted to reach inside of him and pull out the power that the Chronicler had awakened within him. With a surge of self-confidence overflowing him, he was able to summon forth the Wisdom Staff with no trouble.

"Now this is more like it!" he intoned.

He charged headfirst, sprinting forward into the battlefield of enemies with the others (except for Sparx who was watching from a safe distance in the sidelines) right behind him.

Spyro and Cynder, with their special handicap, fought together. Being the only ones their who were able to fly, they took to the sky in combat against the flying Wyvern Grublins.

"You ready?" Spyro asked. Spyro and Cynder flew at a descending diagonal angle. The wyverns were fast in the air, but weren't fast enough to keep up the two dragons and their nimble bodies.

"Now!" Cynder gave the signal.

All of the sudden, the duo changed their trajectory pulling backwards. They performed a reverse somersault which put them directly behind the hoard of flying creatures.

Using her wind element, Cynder created a whirlwind which ensnared all of the enemies within it. Spyro dived downard into the vortex. Activating his lightning ability, he generated several electric bolts from his body while he barrel-rolled using the circular motion of the vortex.

**Crack!**

The sound of the loud echoes similar to that of a thunderhead echoed everywhere. The vortex was consumed in an overwhelming lightshow. Every single unfortunate enemy that had been caught within the wind vortex had been disentegrated to ash.

Back on the ground, Luke and Hunter were at work with the foot soldiers.

Luke was locked in a push-and-shove battle with a Grublin. Their weapons were up against one another's as one tried to overpower the other in hopes of knocking off the enemy off guard. Luke's frustration began to grow. He was struggling this much with only one small bad guy already. He realized that he had completely forgotten that he had an advantage that none of the other Grublins had. It was all so clear from the beginning and he didn't think about it.

"Fire!" He intoned.

Instantaneously on command, his staff glowed a hot orange color. The temperature of the weapon spiked to almost 1700 degrees fahrenhiet. The Grublin squawked in surprise. Its sword was cut through by the seering heat of Luke's weapon. Taking the chance, he followed up with three more strikes, which sliced the Grublin down into multiple pieces of charred flesh.

Hunter was surrounded by three grublins outnumbered. Not intimidated at all, Hunter thrusted his sword forward parrying the defense of one of the Grublins. Seizing the opportunity, he swung horizontally at it and diced it into two pieces through the middle. He ducked as he avoided the attacks from the other two creatures. Jumping into the air seven feet, he acrobatically performed a midair backflip and landed a short distance away from the enemies, He charged forward before they even had a chance to retaliate. In a just a few short milliseconds, he slayed both of them with one 360-degree spin attack.

The duo regrouped together back to back as the masses of enemies approached them from all sides.

"What do we do? We are completely trapped." Luke stated.

Sure he had his magic spells, but he could only cast so many by himself before he exhausted himself. He was already starting to suffer from slight fatigue from the lack of rest from last night.

"We fight. That's all we can do!" Hunter exclaimed.

Running a quick mental check of all the spells he knew he could use or possibly was able to use in theory. He could think of nothing.

"Damn." he cursed to himself.

He looked up to the skies hoping for some kind of answer. To his instant surprise, he noticed that Spyro and Cynder were directly overhead. It was then he saw Spyro begin to emit what looked like a blazing tree of electric currents. The dragon used his electricity element to create a lightning bolt to take out all the wyverns.

"Hunter! Rise your sword to the air! Now!" Luke ordered. He didn't give his actions a second thought. Why it came to him to get the idea to do this was beyond him. It was like something was inside that guided his being to perform his action. And so he just did.

"Why!? Hunter asked confused. "If I let my down my guard I'll get stabbed!"

"Do it!" Luke barked. His voice intensified in authority.

Hunter raised his sword into the air leaving himself wide open for an attack. He put his faith in Luke. The Grublins all upheld their weapons poised to strike.

As Luke had expected, a bolt of lightning descended from the sky and struck the two's weapons. A reveberating shockwave of electricity channeled outwards all around the duo shocking all of the grublins.

**Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.**

Hunter watched his sword become charged with the flowing power of several thousand volts of electricity. The electric current was conducted into his sword and stopped there.

Pain surged through Luke. Sparks and were all around him. Somehow, he used his magic to redirect the flow of electricity that normally would have electrocuted him and Hunter. All of the enemies dropped to the ground.

Looking around, Hunter noticed that the majority, if not all, of the Grublins had been eliminated by the electric attack. He sheathed his sword and looked over at Luke. The boy's knees trembled slightly still feeling the effects of having taken so much stress onto his body. Luke stumbled backwards only to be caught by Hunter.

"Thanks Hunter." Luke said. With as much energy as he expended from the magic he just used, he would have expected to feel a lot more exhausted.

"You alright?" Hunter asked. He still was supporting Luke's balance.

Luke nodded to give a confirmative yes.

"That was amazing what you just did. You were able to channel all that electricity to take out almost every single enemy in one swift move. How did you manage to generate so much electricity. Not even an electric dragon except for Volteer would have been able to pull that off."

"Or Spyro. Don't forget he's the one that also has mastered that element. And no it wasn't me. I simply redirected the blast to where it wouldn't harm us." Luke stated, correcting Hunter.

"Impressive feat nonetheless." Hunter gave Luke an affirmative pat on the back. "You keep suprising me everyday with these powers of yours. Like Spyro, you are something truly remarkble."

Luke blushed a little bit and pushed Hunter off playfully. "I wouldn't go that far as to state that." He said back. "It's odd though. That move should have taken more out of me. I certainly felt the immediate effects of exhaustion hit me five seconds ago. But all of the sudden it now feels like I haven't even begun to break a sweat. And how was I even able to perform that move in the first place. I didn't even know I had the full ability to control lightning."

Hunter paused. He folded his arms and stroked his chin in thought.

"I have a feeling that maybe it has something to do with the development of your powers. The Chronicler said that your hidden potential was still developing and that they were still in its infancy stages of manifesting inside you. Considering the fact that he had to intervene and force your potential to grow at an abonormally fast rate. It might just be that your body has finally caught up and adapted to the new presence of your magical abilities. If that makes any sense to you." he stated.

Luke shook his head, even though he didn't completely understand.

"Long story short, I'm still breaking in the new body?" He asked.

"I guess if you want to be simple, then yes." Hunter answered.

"Oh man! That sure was a light show you guys put on there!" Sparx commented. Luke turned to see the that the glowing insect had come out of his hiding spot.

"Spyro was all like electrifying! And you were all like, I am the electric master! I control the lightning and Spyro is my generator!" Sparx was pounding with excitement and enthusiasim.

Luke shrugged.

"I honestly had no idea what the hell I was doing. I just kind of winged it." He said. He scratched the back of his head shrugging it off.

"No, Sparx is right. Luke that was amazing what you just did." Spyro said as he and Cynder landed next to the group.

"It's not everyday you see somebody pull a move off like that without talent. Especially for somebody with as little experience as yourself." Cynder stated.

Luke shook a little and he blushed again.

"It doesn't matter. The important thing is that all of the Grublins have been defeated and that the villagers are safe." Hunter reminded them all. "Speaking of which..."

The cheetah turned to see Prowlus and his men coming back up to them.

"I see that you have cleared the village of the monsters. I guess you have my thanks." the chief said with a groan. He was still displeased with the situation.

"Oh gee- Thanks." Sparx sarcastically remarked.

"I'm assuming that everyone is alright? No villagers were hurt? Nobody is missing?" Luke asked.

"No one was hurt. But we still have a problem. Meadow left for the Enchanted Forest this morning to pick some herbs and he still has not returned." Prowlus folded his arms.

Luke and Spyro were not suprised by the turn of events.

"And who's fault would that be." Cynder commented looking at the elder cutting him a glare. She was still a bit bitter about the comment Prowlus made about her earlier.

"My fault or not, I still have no reason that I should trust you five. The fact that you have saved my village from these monsters proves nothing. Even Malefor has performed heroic deeds in the past. And look where he ended up today." Prowlus made his point.

"Alright we get it! You don't trust us!" Luke yelled. He was fed up with this.

Hunter looked over at Luke. "Calm down. Yelling won't help our situation."

Spyro then got an idea. "How about we go find Meadow for you? I mean, with one of your men missing surely you could give us a chance." he suggested.

"It was already too dangerous for my men to go out now. If you are willing to do that, then I will take back what I said about you earlier. And I'll give you key to the underground passage that leads to the dragon city. You are free to act as you see fit. But don't bother returning if you come without him. And as for my son, he stays here."

Luke looked over at Hunter.

"Yes sir." Hunter responded. He stepped forward to the chief and kneeled down in front of his father.

Luke watched horrified. Hunter had just given in that easily without even so much as a fight.

"Hunter! You are just going to sit there and give in. Where is the rebellious spirit that you normally have!?" Luke demanded.

Hunter let out a sigh. Looking back at Luke he gave no reply.

"This is his father we are talking about Luke. It doesn't matter what happens at the end of the day, they are still family. And Prowlus is still Hunter's dad." Cynder stopped the teenager.

"Come on Luke!" Spyro called out to him. "We got to get moving if we want to find Meadow."

Luke took one last look back at Hunter. "We will be back. I will let get you back with us bro. That's a promise." He assured the cheetah one last time.

Turning back to the gate, the quartet exited the village and headed into the forest to search for the missing cheetah. They followed the trail back the way they came. It was quiet between them all until Spyro was the first one to break the silence.

"Where do you think he could be?" The violet dragon asked.

Cynder shrugged. She had never even been to this forest before.

Luke thought up an idea.

"Have you guys seen any herbs or specific kind of plants around here? Prowlus said he went out this morning to pick out some herbs for medicine. Perhaps if we could find a place where a bunch of herbs are growing that could probably give us some leads." Luke suggested.

"And I am assuming you know where this herb patch is?" Sparx frowned folding his arms.

"Oh and I would think you have any better ideas?" Cynder taunted the dragonfly.

There was no denying it was better than nothing.

"Oh fine." The dragonfly groaned.

The group backtracked along the trial. Eventually, they came upon a small cavern in the side of a cliff. Searching about for three aimless hours turned up nothing.

"Maybe he is in that cave." Luke suggested. He bolted up the beaten path and towards the entrance.

This was the first lead they found that could possibly be helpful. Spyro and Cynder looked at each other. They nodded at one another and followed the human.

"Why of all places must it be another spooky cave? This always happens to me." Sparx complained.

He fluttered slowly behind them, wanting to keep his distance to make sure he would be safe. The last time he had been in a cave, he almost had been eaten by a monster.

Luke stopped at the very entrance. He peered around the corner and gazed into the cave chamber. It was impossible to make out was in there due to the lackluster lighting.

"Hey Meadow. You in there?" Luke called out into the cave.

The teen's voice echoed across the walls of the dark room. Listening in on it, the echoes of his voice were strong and present.

"I don't hear anything else." Spyro stated as he rounded the corner ahead of Luke.

"It is just a small dark cave." Cynder commented.

"Ugh-" A groan could be heard out of the darkness of the cave.

"Is somebody there?" Luke called out again. He looked around to try and see something, but was too dark.

"Over here." The voice responded.

"Over where?! It is too dark to see a thing in here. We can't see in the dark." Sparx complained. The dragonfly crossed his arms and grew impatient.

The purple dragon groaned. Sparx's constant badgering was starting to get on Spyro's nerves, despite the fact that the two were brothers by foster relation.

"Enough Sparx. Now is not the time for this." Spyro said back to warn of his own annoyance.

"Sorry." Sparx replied in a monotone.

"Follow the sound of my voice." A voice stated.

Luke walked forward and felt around. He stopped a moment later after stepping on something.

"Yeow!" Something jumped and pulled whatever it was that looked stood on out from under his foot. Luke lost his balance and he fell backwards landing on his butt.

"Watch it! That was my tail."

Luke had found Meadow.

Luke reached forward and he felt a paw grab his hand.

"Meadow. I got you." He said.

"I see that, but my leg is broken and I can't stand up." The cheetah replied.

Luke became more flustered.

"And I still can't see. It is too damn dark in here." He was growing more and more impatient.

Spyro hatched an idea. "Don't worry guys. I got an idea." The dragon proclaimed loudly.

"Well then do it. If it will let us see what's going on." Cynder ordered. She was still at the entrance with Sparx.

Utilizing his fire control ability, Spyro's enter body glew a slight red afterglow over the top of his glistening purple scales.

The iluminious glow allowed enough light for the group to see enough to where they could make out a few details of a person about ten feet in front of them.

Luke saw the cheetah he was holding hands with. Meadow looked upon Luke and his eyes turned wide with suprise.

"An ape? What are you?" He asked in shock. The first time reaction of seeing a human was more than Luke expected.

"Now is not the time for explanations. We are your rescue party." He said calmly.

Meadow relaxed upon the reassurance of Luke's statement.

"My name is Luke. This is the purple dragon Spyro, the black dragoness is Cynder, and that

flying lantern over there is Sparx." He introduced the group to the cheetah.

Meadow nodded.

"What are you four doing out here to save me?" he asked.

Luke informed Meadow of the current situation.

"That's ashamed." Meadow remarked. "That man has been always been a stubborn mind. He won't even listen to his son."

Luke sighed. "Yeah. We know that all too well." He replied.

Spyro gave Luke a little nudge.

"We should get going. Hunter is waiting on us." He said.

Luke turned back to Meadow. Meadow gave a look of grimace.

"I can't walk. I was attacked by a hoard of Grublins. They knocked me unconscious and brought me here. And just to make sure I couldn't get away they broke my left ankle." Meadow had to inform them about his injury a second time.

Luke, Spyro, and Cynder looked at each and gave a collective sigh.

"I say we leave him." Sparx groaned. He was fed up enough with this situation already.

"Shutup Sparx." Luke shot a glare at the dragonfly.

"There's a raft at the beginning of the river not far from here. Perhaps if you could get it and float down to here I could pull myself up to it." Meadow explained.

Luke looked at the two dragons. Spyro shrugged and Cynder was blank.

"I say we do it." the two said.

To them it seemed like the best option since they were four-legged dragons who couldn't support a bipedal cheetah or human.

"Or I could help walk Meadow limp back by supporting him so he avoids putting pressure on his ankle." Luke suggested. "I mean I don't mind it."

Meadow looked at Luke. "Are you sure?" He asked. "I mean the walk to the village is about two miles at least."

Luke nodded. "Yes. For one thing, I don't trust a raft as much as I could my own ability to be able to swim and save a person in a raging current." Luke explained.

Meadow frowned. "It's only a half-mile down the stream vs three miles down the trail."

"Sorry, but I would rather walk." Luke crossed his arms. "We'll be okay."

His mind was made up and that was that.

"Alright, fine. Let's just get going." Meadow insisted.

Luke helped Meadow up with one arm and then took hold with him. Meadow was able to walk with Luke's aid. The newly formed quintet exited the room and headed back to the village. Following the same path they came from originally, it took them about a two and half hour hike with their handicap cheetah.

Luke, Meadow, Spyro, Cynder, and Sparx all entered the village through the front gate.

Prowlus stood right before them. All of the cheetahs standing behind him appeared surprised.

Luke stopped with Meadow and Prowlus gave Luke and Spyro a cold look.

"You came back. I never would have thought you would have after our little fiesco. Forgive me Meadow. I did what I could and gave up when you could have been saved. And for that I am truly sorry." Prowlus apologized.

"You are forgiven." Meadow replied.

The chief turned to his right to his still tied up son.

"Guards! Release Hunter!" He ordered.

Several guards surrounded Hunter and they untied him. Prowlus walked up to the now free cheetah and helped him up to his feet.

"I am sorry son. I should have listened in the beginning. Sinking so low as to wrongly incarcerating my own son and his friends." Prowlus apologzed for a second time.

"We all make mistakes dad." Hunter replied.

Luke crossed his arms. "I hold no grudge. Considering the fact that there is a war going on, that your father is doing everything in his power to remain neutral, and protect the village at the same time. Everyone is paranoid of being attacked so you did what you thought was right to the best of your abilities. It was just a big misunderstanding is all." He commented.

Sparx stared and gawked at Luke.

"This morning you were pissed at him and now you are defending his case! Who's side are you on!?" the dragonfly complained.

Spyro smirked at his brother. "The same as us. The situation has been resolved and the cheetahs are no longer an enemy to us. Is that right?" He turned to ask Prowlus.

Prowlus looked back at him. Any bit of anger directed towards the dragon was now gone from his eyes.

"No. I trust your group is not a hostility. You proved that today." He answered.

Sparx glared at the cheetah. "I'm still keeping my eye on you." He stated as if it were supposed to be a serious warning.

Cynder and Luke sighed.

"You just go on and do that Sparx." The two said in unison.

They both looked at one another and realized they had just said.

"I swear you that you can read my mind sometimes Luke." Cynder commented.

Luke chuckled lightly.

"Great minds think alike." He replied.

Cynder looked away and frowned. "I'm not great. You wouldn't want to be like me." She suddenly sounded depressed.

Luke sighed. "Don't beat yourself up. It is not healthy." He tried to cheer her up.

"If you knew what kind of past I suffered through you would understand." She replied.

Spyro overheard Cynder's comment.

"Don't you understand Cynder. It isn't your fault. You were corrupted by the Dark Master's evil power and had no control over yourself. It's his fault that this happened. It's his fault that this entire war started." He reassured the dragoness.

"Yeah. Like the she-demon could have a heart." Sparx sneered.

Luke and Spyro gave a huge glare to the sparkle-bug.

"Don't mind him." Luke said, "Sparx is just being insensitive as usual. He doesn't know a thing."

Cynder shook her head. Her head hung down.

"No, Sparx is right. It is my fault. So many innocent lives have been taken away because of me. I am only holding you guys back." She stated.

Luke sighed. They were wasting time with arguing. If they wanted to make it to Warfang by the end of the day, they needed to leave.

"Believe that if you want to right now. You are stuck with us because of that shackle." He teased.

Cynder looked over to Spyro's neck shackle and touched the one around her neck.

"Let's just move on." She stated back. She just wanted to drop the subject.

Prowlus watched the entire conversation and heard everything. Reaching into his left pocket around his coat, he pulled out a little metal key.

"This is to make up for what I did. It is the least I can do for what you did for us today." Prowlus explained. He turned over to Hunter and put the key in his son's paw and closed it.

"This will get to you where you need to go. The key to the secret caverns leading to the dragon city will get you to Warfang faster than the way Hunter came from."

Hunter nodded in understanding. "I see. We better be off." He replied.

Prowlus held out his hand to his son. "Good luck on your endeavors. And come home safe!" The father re-emphasized the last statement strongly.

Hunter didn't hold out his hand and instead put both of his arms around his dad to hug him. Prowlus was quiet. A smile rose across his face.

"I will father. I love you." Hunter said.

"And I love you too son." Prowlus replied as the two separated from their hug.

Hunter turned and rejoined the group.

"Your help would be gladly appreciated if you could manage it father. I would advise you to reconsider." He said back to Prowlus as he walked off.

Luke waved back to Prowlus and the villagers. "See ya Prowlus. It was nice meeting you, when you didn't try to kill me." Luke said.

Prowlus let out a low chuckle. For the first time, he felt that his son was in good company.

"Goodbye Luke. And be sure to keep my Hunter in check. Same goes to you Purple Dragon." Prowlus stated.

Luke and Hunter looked back at the village one more time before heading off after the others. Spyro, Cynder, and Sparx had already taken off down the trail.

Leaving the village, the group was embarking on the next leg of their journey.


	6. Update

Future Updates: 5/19/2013

Hello there everyone! This is Golden-Earth-Writer! Now that Summer is almost at hand, I am finally graduating high-school and have time to focus on my fan-fiction project. This, along with my original story, are what I am putting my efforts towards this summer. I can't be sure when I will be releasing the first chapter as I haven't even finished the first page, but I am writing it and will not be giving up on this project.

Enjoy the story and I have offered so far.

Peace out,

-Luke Todd

PS: I'm horrible at writing these kinds of updates.


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